


Of Monsters and Men

by SchrodingersShanu



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Hyungwon is a knight in a shining armour except he has his own shit to deal with, M/M, Minhyuk is a little shit, SLOWBURN ON ACID, Sexual tension and just general tension, We have gods and abilities and awful world building, suspense mystery because why not?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-08 03:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 80,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21229055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersShanu/pseuds/SchrodingersShanu
Summary: Hyungwon thinks that life of crime is way past him so he is especially pissed off when he is dragged right back into it to protect Minhyuk.





	1. Prologue - Nature's Caprice

**Author's Note:**

> A few points: 
> 
> \- About the world, everyone has some kind of power but most of the population has a regressive power core (like genes) which makes their power too weak as compared to the effort they put in. Even though the power (strength and not the kind) is passed through bloodline there are many cases where even though both the parents have dominant power cores, the child's is recessive (dormant). The vice-versa case is rare but not absent. As a result, people with power are not many in numbers.  
3- The mafias often have people with power and to deal with them, there are special police and intelligence departments which too have the people of power in them.  
4- Hyungwon is the only noted case of a nullifier. His power renders the person he touches powerless for a period of time which depends on the strength he puts in. There is other related stuff that he can do with his power which will be mentioned later. Everyone else's power will be explicitly mentioned in the text. 
> 
> I hope this isn't too confusing, enjoy!

_Here I am, back with the filth._

This is the first thought that Hyungwon has as he exits the airport and looks at the city that he had left almost eight years ago. 

Absentmindedly, he takes out his phone from his pocket and switches it on to look at the time. His phone vibrates with several texts, and his eyes flick towards the date. He switches it back off.

It’s his father’s one year death anniversary. He should be sad or angry or something but instead, he feels indifferent. 

He knows Hoseok must have sent someone to receive him but in an effort to put off the bullshit that he's going to confront, he moves towards the taxi stand.

But, of course, Hoseok had practically raised him. So he shouldn’t be surprised when he gets there and sees a tall and slim figure holding a board with his name on it above their head. 

The mystery person has their back towards him so he almost feels like slipping away. But, then he thinks about Hoseok and decides on rebelling _after_ he has met his brother.

He walks towards the figure, his steps light, and taps him on the shoulder. The man turns around with a frown on his face which melts into a wide grin as he sees Hyungwon. While Hyungwon’s brain works to dig that smile out from his memories and place a name on it, the man engulfs him in a bone-crushing hug. “You’re really back, sir!” 

It’s the last word that makes everything click. Hyungwon is glad for the way that the man is holding him so tightly because if it weren’t for that he probably would have tripped with all the memories rushing in.

“Minhyuk?”

***

Hyungwon had seen Minhyuk for the first time almost ten years ago. He wasn’t called Minhyuk then. He wasn’t called anything. 

At the tender age of ten, instead of ink marks, there was blood on his hands. Dressed in a white hospital gown like a deranged messiah, his body was drenched in blood; some of his own but mostly of others. His punches had been sturdy and his attacks unflinching. 

A fourteen-year-old Hyungwon had witnessed this like a suicidal man standing in the path of a tornado. 

As Minhyuk had killed man after man from his gang, manipulating gravity like a doll in his hands, Hyungwon had felt like a puny human who built and built and built only to lose everything to nature’s caprice.

As much as Hyungwon was inexperienced, he knew a man with power on par with God when he saw one. 

_No ten-year-old can fight like this, it’s unnatural,_ he had thought.

As Minhyuk had fainted when Hyungwon had touched him, his hands seconds away from lifting Hyungwon in the air and crashing him into the wall, he had thought, _no ten-year-old should have to fight like this, it’s unnatural. _

Minhyuk’s unmoving body would have stayed unmoving for eternity if Hyungwon had killed him then.

He almost did kill him. He had aimed his gun, ready to plunge a bullet into Minhyuk’s heart and finish the war once and for all. Then he had looked at Minhyuk, his small body lying there in the dust, and he couldn't bring himself to do it. 

Even as his bloodied hands spoke otherwise, he was just a kid. People, who had witnessed this battle and lived to weave tales about it would later call Minhyuk the vessel of the God of war. While Hyungwon was a skeptic and smarter than that, after witnessing Minhyuk’s animalistic fury, his bulging veins, and his dilated pupils, he knew him to be something inhuman.

His hands couldn't leave the gun as he thought about what to do. He can’t possibly kill an unconscious child and expect to live with himself after that.

His inner conflict had come to a halt as Minhyuk had fluttered his eyes open. The power that Hyungwon had pushed into his fingers to knock Minhyuk off would have kept an adult man unconscious for a day. But, here was Minhyuk, this monster of a child, very much conscious and now aware of his surroundings. His eyes wide open, taking in Hyungwon with awe. 

Their eyes had met and slowly a smile had blossomed on Minhyuk’s face. Hyungwon had felt naive with the realization that the laws of the world were too convoluted for him to understand. Because there was nothing but a child’s innocence in those honey-colored eyes. The hysteria and wrath were gone and all that laid there was a child of nature and not some monster.

With his haunted innocent eyes, Minhyuk had looked up at him like Hyungwon was his savior. He should have been scared while lying below Hyungwon’s gun. Instead, he had smiled at Hyungwon. A thing so bright that surrounded by all that chaos and sins of humanity, witnessing it had felt like a taboo. 

The smile had humanized Minhyuk like his tiny body hadn’t. It had looked like it belonged there. Hyungwon couldn’t help himself but ask, “Why are you smiling, kid?” 

The smile had widened even more as Minhyuk had replied, “You look like the angel of death, sir.” 

The cacophony of war had come to a halt in his mind and all Hyungwon could hear was the beating of his own heart that seemed to want to come out of his chest. 

Minhyuk had called him the angel of death as if he was inviting Hyungwon to kill him. What burden could a ten-year-old possibly have to smile at the thought of his death? To welcome it and call his murderer an 'angel of death'? 

He didn’t know but he wanted to find out.

Decision made, he had put his gun away and bent down on his knee, his every movement followed by Minhyuk’s eyes. He had tapped Minhyuk's forehead with all the power gathered on his fingertips and kept it there until he could feel Minhyuk's core shutting down. 

“Sleep, sweet child,” he had whispered like a promise as Minhyuk fainted again. 

***

“I am so glad that you recognized me. I thought that you would’ve forgotten me by now!”

Minhyuk steps back and as Hyungwon scans an adult Minhyuk, he also wishes he had forgotten everything about him. He must be around twenty one now, Hyungwon thinks. 

His height makes Hyungwon think that he must have shot up during his puberty because when Hyungwon had last seen him he was a tiny gremlin. His jaw is defined now but his features hold the same fragility as they did when he was just a kid. 

When he was younger, Minhyuk always painted a picture of timidity. With his skinny body and shaved ginger hair, he always looked malnourished as if a gust of wind would take him away. His always scared expression and quiet voice didn’t help his image either. 

Thinking about his shaved head as a child, he looks at his now long white hair. 

“You grew out your hair?” 

“Uh, yeah? Brother told me that it suited me better.” 

It does. He looks beautiful to the extent that it makes Hyungwon uncomfortable, so he changes the subject. “Did Hoseok ask you to wait for me at the taxi stand?” 

“Uh, yeah, there are also people at each exit. I asked brother to place me at the spot with the most probability.” 

“He still doesn’t trust me, does he?” 

“You did come directly to the taxi stand, sir.” There is a cheeky smile on his face that Hyungwon can’t ignore. He pinches his cheek. “I don’t remember you being this cheeky.” 

“Oww! This is assault!” Minhyuk cries and it just makes Hyungwon bring up his other hand, and pinch his other cheek as well. Minhyuk finally stops complaining and gives in to the fate that his cheeks have. Hyungwon feels accomplished and finally lets go. 

Minhyuk takes a step back. “You are still scary. Still pinching me with no expression on your face. It seems like the only thing that changed is your height.”

“Hmmm. Take me to your master’s mansion now. I didn’t come here all the way to this shithole just to be insulted by a tiny punk like you.” 

“I am not tiny anymore! Young master, your temper is the only thing that is short here.” Hyungwon raises an eyebrow, not indulging such direct attack on his person. 

Minhyuk takes Hyungwon’s suitcase and starts walking. As they reach the car, Minhyuk takes out the car keys from his pocket which Hyungwon promptly snatches away. “Like I would let a brat like you drive me off a cliff to death.” 

Minhyuk harrumphs but doesn’t say anything, and then they are driving away from the airport to his prison. 

***

“Look at you, you still look like a twig!” 

Hoseok’s loud proclamation is met by a snicker from Minhyuk. Hyungwon steps back from his brother’s arms and turns around to glare at Minhyuk. “You brat. Set up my room instead of slacking off. You had plenty of time to do that when I wasn’t here.” 

Hoseok hits his head. “Don’t talk to my kid like that!”

Minhyuk grumbles, “I can’t believe I missed you, young master,” and stomps away with his suitcase. 

Hoseok and Hyungwon climb the stairs and step inside Hoseok’s study where Hoseok locks the door behind himself. He asks Hyungwon generic questions like how he is, how is his life, how was his job going, and if he had been dating someone; all the questions that he already knows the answer to. 

“Hoseok, stop beating around the bush and get to the point. You asked me to come here and I came, so tell me what do you want from me now.” 

“I want you to take over.” 

“No.” It doesn’t even take a second for Hyungwon to say this. There is no room for pondering here when he had made the decision eight years ago. His father couldn’t convince him then, and his brother isn’t going to convince him now. That said, with firm finality in his gaze, Hyungwon gets up, ready to leave the room.

“Listen to me.” The softness in Hoseok’s voice stops him. “Hyungwon, please sit down and listen to me.” The desperation in his tone scares him enough into complying easily so Hyungwon sits back down. “I _need_ you to take over.” 

Hyungwon crosses his legs. “Why? You seem to be doing a good job. Then, why? Why now?” 

Hyungwon should have listened to his gut when it told him that coming here would be a huge mistake because right now, with Hoseok staring at him like he knows how the end of the world is going to play out and he needs Hyungwon's help to stop it, Hyungwon feels a little sick. This is not his life, not his responsibility. Not anymore. 

“I want to change this organization.” 

“Then, do it. You want me to endorse you? I’ll do it but I don’t know why you need me to take over,” Hyungwon says, avoiding Hoseok's gaze in favor of staring at the ink bottle on his table. 

“Hyungwon, this organization is going down a path that I won’t be able to help it out of. I need you for this.” Hoseok gets up from his chair and walks over to the cabinet, taking out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from it. “When our grandfather had started this organization, it was meant to be the antithesis of every other gang.” He pours some whiskey for Hyungwon and water for himself, sliding one glass towards Hyungwon before settling back in his chair.

Hyungwon crosses his arm, meeting Hoseok's stare with childlike defiance. The glass reflecting the yellow of the light bulb in Hoseok's study stays untouched. 

“We were supposed to be the good guys, the Robinhood of the mafia." Hoseok begins, eyes shining like a mother reciting fairytales. "Our father changed that because he thought it was-" A disbelieving shake of the head with a laugh so bitter that it makes Hyungwon shrink into himself, "it was boring. Now that he is dead, I want to change that. Before you say anything, I did try. I tried a lot this one year. But these old people are too set in their ways. We need to change them or take them out and bring in new blood but I can’t do it alone. I am not assertive, strong or even smart enou-”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Hoseok.” Even with the strong conviction in Hyungwon's voice, Hoseok’s weak smile tells Hyungwon that he doesn’t believe him. Their father has managed to condition Hoseok to the extent that even after his death, Hoseok is repeating his words to himself. 

“But, most importantly, I am just a bastard. I don’t have the right blood to get the people to listen to me.” 

Hoseok has always been the stronger one between them, while Hyungwon prefers duplicity and manipulation, Hoseok had always preferred to attack upfront. He realizes this again when Hoseok doesn’t move his gaze away from Hyungwon’s. Their eyes remain locked and Hoseok refuses to bow down. “Alone, I am nothing but together,” he reaches out to grab Hyungwon’s hand, “we might just be it. I miss you, Hyungwon and I am too broken to do this without you.” His eyes are glossy, and Hyungwon closes his own because Hoseok’s pain is too much and as if he nothing but only Hoseok's reflection, he feels broken too. 

As little kids, while Hyungwon was spoiled and cherished, Hoseok had mopped the floors of their father’s room to even be acknowledged. He was treated no better than the help in the house, perhaps, even worse.

The whole town knew about Hoseok as an open secret but his father refused to acknowledge him as his son. Hoseok’s dead mother was a servant, and Hoseok’s father considered himself too pious to admit that he fornicated with people below his status.

Growing up, Hyungwon had the world in his little palm while all Hoseok had was Hyungwon, a spoiled child. Hyungwon could have been a cold-blooded sociopath, all the innate ingredients were there, but it was Hoseok’s nurturing that stopped the nature in its course and made him human. 

His brother had raised him with love and strength and Hyungwon owes his life to him. So, he is ready to give in - he was ready to give in as soon as he heard the vulnerability in Hoseok's voice over the phone - but not before a final pushback. 

“Hoseok, I can endorse you. I can help you with strategies and plans. I am ready to do anything that doesn’t require me staying here. In this house. In this town.” 

“Minhyuk.” 

Hyungwon freezes. "What?" 

“Someone knows about Minhyuk.” 

“No, that can’t be. There is nothing to know about Minhyuk. I made that sure before leaving.” Hyungwon feels his temper rising along with his heartbeat because if Minhyuk’s secret got out, then that’s it for him. 

Hyungwon clicks his finger and his astral manifests itself in the form of a cheetah. Hyungwon notes how it looks much stronger than before, its blue incorporeal form glowing brightly. Before he can observe it more, the cheetah runs away and vanishes. The only evidence that it was even there is the chain attached to Hoseok’s wrist. The chain, just like the animal, is translucent but much more detailed than he remembers it being. 

In a few seconds, the cheetah comes back with a file hanging from its jaws which Hoseok takes. The astral then rubs its head against Hoseok’s legs as if trying to comfort its owner. Hoseok smiles slightly, pets its head, and the astral and the chain fade away. 

“Egan looks stronger.” 

“Yeah, she is.” Hoseok hands him the file. 

The cover says ‘Experiment Ares’ and even before Hyungwon looks inside he already knows what he is going to see. After all, he had seen it ten years ago. He had seen it and burned it to make sure it never sees the light of the day but here he is opening it and looking at Minhyuk’s picture. There is the shaven head and gaunt face that he remembers from their childhood. His eyes skim over the words even though he already knows them by heart. 

_Name: Ares _

_Power: Gravity Manipulation. _

_Summary: The subject was an orphan picked up from the streets at the age of six and sold to the Amethyst where he was experimented on for four years. After several failures, the subject managed to be stable with a compatible amplifier. Upon being triggered, the subject loses his senses and channels his power to the most effectiv-_

With shaky hands, Hyungwon looks at Hoseok in panic. Later, he will chide himself for such transparent weakness but in the moment it doesn't matter.

“Where did you get this?” 

“Someone got it from somewhere and leaked it into the market a month ago with the message ‘Experiment Ares is alive’.” He points to the file in Hyungwon’s hands. “This is just a copy. Every gang and smuggler has one. Fortunately, no one has the full file and only the summary but it’s enough. Ares is the most wanted item on the market right now. I don't know how long it would take someone to connect this to Minhyuk.” Hoseok looks down, his words a whisper directed at no one. “I am not even sure if someone already hasn’t.” 

Hyungwon is lost. He had spent two years building up Minhyuk from the pieces he was broken into, and after years of living fearlessly for Minhyuk, all it takes is a page to shatter this illusion. 

He looks up from the file and understands why Hoseok looks so broken even without any words.

“He is my kid, Hyungwon. I have raised him just like I raised you. If anything happens to him, I don’t know how I will live.” 

Hyungwon had spent two years on Minhyuk before it had gotten too much for him and he had fled but Hoseok never wavered. He raised him from the boy with haunted eyes to the sunshine he saw today. 

“Eight years ago, you asked me to take care of Minhyuk in your stead, and I did. I almost lost so much because of it but I did it because you are both my kids. You, Minhyuk and Kihyun are it for me, and I’ll sacrifice anything for you but today allow me to be a little selfish.” Hoseok, who is eight years older than Hyungwon, is on his knees right now in front of him. 

Even before his knees touch the floor, Hyungwon tries to drag him up by the arm but his brother doesn’t waver. “I know this is emotional blackmail and I will forever hate myself for it. It doesn’t bring me any pleasure to drag you back into this life. But, I ask this of you. I _beg_ this of you. If nothing else, help me protect Minhyuk.” 

Hyungwon is shaking his head, his arms still trying to drag Hoseok up. His brother doesn’t need to beg him, not for this, not for _anything_, but especially not for this. 

“Hoseok, please. You need to get up. Yeah. Yeah. I will stay. I’ll take over. I’ll protect Minhyuk. I’ll do anything but please get up.” Finally, Hoseok gets up and he immediately pulls Hyungwon into a tight hug. 

"Thank you."

“Does Minhyuk know?” Hyungwon says, drawing back. 

“No. I couldn’t tell him.” 

The relief in Hyungwon’s voice is obvious as he says, “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” 


	2. Size of Your Ego

**10 years ago**

Once Hyungwon had knocked the kid out, it was a matter of time until Amethyst surrendered. They had broken into the basement where the leader was hiding and then that was it. The gang war against Amethyst that had taken almost all of Hyungwon's men out was finished. 

Lying there covered in blood, the kid had looked one with the carcass of war. When Hyungwon declared him dead, twirling the gun in his hands, an arrogant smirk on his face, no one had questioned him. They had no reason to. Even while living, without that smile on his face, the kid had looked dead. To make it more believable, all he had to do was slow down his breathing and position him out of the way and just right.

After the battle, he had sent all his men back along with the prisoners of their little war. So there he was standing alone, the debris of war surrounding him from all sides. Soon, some of his father’s men would come in to raid the place and clean up the corpses, he had to make a decision before then. 

If he were to keep the kid alive, he couldn’t do it alone. The planning could come later, first, he had to call his brother. 

It took Hoseok year-long fifteen minutes to arrive there and, like the tender-hearted freak he is, the first thing he did was take in the child’s body in front of Hyungwon, and immediately going down on his knees to check the kid’s pulse. The relief in his eyes was palpable as he had looked up at Hyungwon. 

Hyungwon had rolled his eyes and in a mocking voice said, “Hey Hyungwon, I will ask you later if you are injured from the most violent gang war of your short career, first let me check if this corpse looking child is alive real quick.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You are standing so you are probably fine.” 

“My brother loves me so much.” Hyungwon had sneered. 

Used to Hyungwon's antics, Hoseok had picked up Minhyuk in his arms. “I was told that the kid is dead. So, tell me, Hyungwon. Where are you going with this?” 

Even Hyungwon didn’t know where he was going with this but he had to start somewhere. 

“We need to find a place for him to stay. Someplace where no one can see him,” He had looked at the kid’s body covered in blood and scars. “We also need to find a doctor or a healer. Someone you can trust.” 

“That didn’t answer my question, Hyungwon.” 

“I don’t know, Hoseok. I just want to save a kid if I can." He lifts his shoulder in a facetious manner, mouth twisted in an irreverent smirk as if Hoseok couldn't clearly see through all of this. "Did you get what I had asked for?”

Hoseok sighs, taking out the car keys from his front pocket. “Yeah, it’s in the trunk.” 

“The blood as well?” 

“It’s in your backpack in the front seat. Isn’t your brother the best? Bringing you a child’s corpse, and some blood with no questions asked? 

“Get fucked, old man.” 

“Language, Hyungwon!” 

*** 

Hoseok had left with the kid while Hyungwon stayed behind because if he was going to do this, he was going to do this properly without cutting any corners. He placed the freshly delivered corpse in the same position as the kid's and then started putting cuts on it. The body must be still fresh because while the blood didn’t flow it did ooze from the cuts. For the final touch, he took out the bottle of blood from his backpack and covered the body in blood in a state similar to that of the kid’s.

Never in his life, he had thought that he would be crouching in front of a child’s body, making sure that it resembled the battered body of another’s. 

Now that that was done, it was time to burn the paper trail. He knew the map of the mansion by heart, so his first stop was the lab. Situated below the basement, the lab smelled of rusty iron. The yellow lights above Hyungwon flickered on and off while he looked around. 

Hyungwon had expected some kind of equipment, but all he could see was chairs and monitors that were currently not working. The only explanation that he could infer was that they probably bought chemicals instead of synthesizing them here or they had a separate lab for that. 

Inside the lab, there was another room separated by a glass wall much like the interrogation rooms they had below their own mansion.

This must be the room where they had kept the kid, Hyungwon realized.

Once inside the room, Hyungwon observed a mattress, a bucket, an IV and a heart-beat monitor, and that was it. On each corner, there was a camera. It was enough to tell him that the kid was kept in even worse conditions than a war prisoner which was further proved by the heavy chains that were there on the mattress. The only indication of a child living there was the drawing books and some oil pastels. 

He opened one to look inside. The first page had a huge whale colored in pink. He quickly went through all the pages. There were drawing of sceneries, trees, and birds, and dogs but mostly of whales in different colors. He dropped them there and didn’t bother to look at the others.

Hyungwon got out of the room and raided the whole lab for any document. He found many but there was no time to go through all of them so instead, he burned them all except one.

He went through the whole house looking for any related files and documents but the only ones that he found were in the head’s room detailing the list of chemicals needed for the next stage of the experiment. There was no hesitation on Hyungwon’s part as he burned it along with everything else. 

He got out of the room and climbed down the stairs to reach the hall where his father’s people were already lifting the corpses to get them out in the yard and put them into heaps before burning them. 

There was no waver in his voice as he had told them to hurry it up because he had better stuff to do rather than supervising their incompetence. 

Even though it was Hoseok who had raised him, he was still his father’s child. 

He didn’t leave until he had seen the heap with the small body, along with the kid's secret, burning to ashes. 

***

**PRESENT**

“Sir, you need to wake up. Brother is waiting for you at the dinner table.” 

Minhyuk’s voice is huskier than he remembered it being as a child, but again child Minhyuk spoke in a soft voice, not like this heathen adult Minhyuk who might as well shout in his ears. 

“Tell him that I don’t care about him and his old man ways.” Hyungwon truly couldn’t care less about dinner. After his discussion with Hoseok, he had gone straight to his room. Even though it was still afternoon, he had felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of him so he had planned to change his clothes and take a nap. 

Minhyuk had left his suitcase as it was as per his instruction but now that he was planning to stay, he had decided to set his room up. After that, Hyungwon had changed into his shorts and went to sleep with no plans of waking up before the next morning. 

“You are the only old person here. You still sleep so much, if it wasn’t for your grumbling, I would have gone back and told brother that you were no longer human but just a dead lump.” 

Hyungwon wished he was a dead lump, that way, at least, he wouldn’t have to hear Minhyuk’s whining. He sticks out his face from under the blanket, his eyes barely open. “Go away, kid.”

“No.” 

With only his squinty eyes peeking out, he tries his best to look intimidating. “Go away, so I can get up.” 

Angling his head, Minhyuk grins mischievously. “Why? You can’t get up in front of me? Too shy?” 

Hyungwon narrows his eyes, half to look scary and half because he can't see. “I can but you don’t want me to.” 

Minhyuk grin narrows into a frown. “Why is that, sir?” 

“Minhyuk. I am naked under this blanket.” 

He wasn’t. 

He was still wearing shorts but he really wanted Minhyuk to high-tail it out of there which he does but not before saying, “You are disgusting, young master.” 

He gets five more minutes of sweet sleep before someone is pulling away his blanket, and then there is Hoseok’s astral, this time a cat, sitting on his stomach, licking her paws.

“Egan, you little shit.” The astral doesn’t move but instead turns into a kitten, and Hyungwon is a weak man, so he pets her instead. 

“Are you quite done?” Minhyuk asks, standing at the door with his hands on his eyes. 

“No, not really. But, considering that you are still standing at the door, you don’t want me to be 'quite done'. It’s alright. You can drop the act now. It’s normal to be curious about a man’s body as a young adult.” 

Minhyuk lets his hand drop cautiously and looks completely unamused by Hyungwon sitting in his bed in his shorts, Egan purring in his lap. 

“Actually, I have seen my fair share of bodies. The only thing that I am interested in - when it comes to you - is the size of your ego.” 

Then, he is out of the door, Egan turning into a poodle, following his steps. 

*******

“Minhyuuuk, you need to eat more!” 

“No, you need to stop feeding me more!” 

Sitting between Hoseok and Minhyuk at the dinner table, Hyungwon decides that this is the worst decision he has made in his life.

“How about you both shut the fuck up?” 

Minhyuk’s pout is practiced when he turns to Hoseok. “He is using bad language.” Hoseok drops his spoon and holds Minhyuk’s face in his hands. “Don’t mind him, he is 24 but still going at 16. Actual grown-ups don’t talk like that at the dinner table.” By the end of his sentence, his eyes are narrowed at Hyungwon and his voice sickly sweet. 

Hyungwon gets up and takes three steps back. “Now that I am not at the dinner table, can you both shut the fuck up?” 

Hoseok shakes his head but there is a slight smile on his face while Minhyuk openly starts snickering. 

*******

"I am calling a meeting tomorrow morning. Everyone will be there and we’ll announce you taking over,” Hoseok says, jotting down something in his notebook, his writing hand moving quickly.

Sitting across the table in Hoseok's study, Hyungwon leans back on his chair and puts his hands behind his head with an exaggerated sigh. “Can’t you even give me a day without this bullshit?” 

Hoseok doesn't smile indulgently like he would have if he wasn't working. “We don’t have that luxury, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “Fine.” 

Putting his pen down, Hoseok looks at him sternly. “You need to come off as strong. Anything in your mind?”

Hyungwon brings his thumb to his lips with a pensive expression on his face, biting at his nail subconsciously before he catches Hoseok's look and puts it away. 

“Yeah, I do but I’ll need Hyunwoo and Jooheon for that. Are they coming tomorrow?” 

“Of course, I’ll ask them to come before our meeting, work on your plan, and brief us together tomorrow.”

“I don’t need to work on it but alright. It’s better to discuss this with them in the room as well. Invite Jooheon’s roommate as well. We can trust him, right?” 

“Of course. He loves Minhyuk just as much as I do.”

Hyungwon arches a brow. “Can you give me something other than sentimentality?” 

“Fine. I will get him checked by Jooheon beforehand.” 

Hoseok goes back to his furious jotting, marking the end of their conversation but there's one more thing that he needs to know. He knew the older Hyunwoo but what if-

“That’s more like it. One more thing.” 

Hoseok looks up frowning. “Yeah?”

“Is Hyunwoo still as morally flexible as he used to be?” 

At this Hoseok smiles and Hyungwon already knows the answer.

“You don’t stay in this business if you want the moral high ground, Hyungwon.” 

“Amen.” 

*******

“Alright, then. Let me start by saying that unlike Hoseok I won’t take shit from anyone. You do what I ask of you or you get the fuck out whether alive or dead that’s up to you.” 

Dressed in a crisp black suit, the next morning sees Hyungwon sitting at the head of the table, with Hoseok on his left and Hyunwoo on his right. The seniors are sitting at the table while the others are standing. If Hyungwon had his say, then all of them would have been standing but baby steps. 

The man sitting beside Hoseok begins to say something but Hyungwon cuts him off with a hand. He isn't here to win any popularity vote. “Please wait for your turn to speak. I don’t know what kind of operation Hoseok was running here but that’s not how I work. I am not your pal, I am your boss, the head of this family, so mind your manners in front of me.” 

The guy shuts up, a baffled expression on his face.

“Alright, let’s get done with the formalities first." Hyungwon begins, waving his hand carelessly. "State your name because I don’t remember any of you except Hyunwoo,” He nods his head in acknowledgment which Hyunwoo returns, “your power and what do you want from this gang in the future. I’ll start.” 

He stands up from his chair, stance wide. “Chae Hyungwon. I am a nullifier. For the future, I want this gang to be not filled with incompetent idiots who can’t follow their leader’s instructions.” He sits back down, lounging in his chair and nods at Hoseok. 

“Lee Hoseok. I am an astral projector, the animal kind. I want our gang to go back to the ways our founder had intended for us.” 

“Son Hyunwoo, Memory manipulator. For the future, I want our gang to expand into more profit-generating business avenues.” 

“Park Doo-hwan, and let me preface by saying I am so glad to see you here, kid. I remember how even as a young child, you led people to battles. To have you here as our leader is finally going to take our gang out of the rut that we’ve been under for a year now,” He looks at Hoseok, “I mean no offense to Hoseok’s leadership, he did great as an interim lead-” 

“Sit down, Mr. Park.” 

“I beg your pardon?” 

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. Even if he wasn't to supposed to create a strong impression, this kind of sucking up to him shit still would have annoyed him.

“I asked you to sit down. That shouldn’t be too hard to understand but you seem to have a problem with following instructions.”

“I was just-” 

“Question for the class,” Hyungwon looks at the juniors standing on the opposite side of the table, “Where do you think Mr. Park went wrong?” 

A few seconds pass when Hyungwon finally sees someone raising their hand. “Go on.” 

“You asked for name, ability, and aspirations regarding the future of the gang, and not for uh- a welcome message? He also didn’t use the title of respect for you or Mr. Lee.” 

Hyungwon claps theatrically, the sound that much crisper in the breath-holding kind of silence. “That’s correct. A plus to you, kid. Let me hear your introduction.” 

“Uh- Im Changkyun. I am a were-animal. For the future, I want us to stop child trafficking.” 

“And how old are you, Changkyun?” 

“I am twenty years old, Mr. Chae.” 

“Twenty years old and he is capable of listening to instructions! I think we hit the jackpot. Mr. Park, please change places with him.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Did you not hear me? Because I am more than happy to write it for you.” 

Doohwan bangs his hands on the table and gets up with such force that his chair falls away sideways. “You- I am your senior. I’ve been here longer than you’ve lived. You can’t throw me out just like that. I can sell insider knowledge and-” 

Hyungwon’s relaxed posture doesn’t change as he looks at his watch. “You are taking my time, Mr. Park. Either you can change your position or choose to leave.” 

“This is extremely insulting. Your father would have never seen to such disrespect in his own family.” 

“Well, that answers that. Hoseok, if you would please.” Hoseok snaps his fingers and Egan comes in as an elephant, lifting Doohwan off the ground with her trunk. Before he can use his power, Hyungwon gets up and touches his leg until he faints. 

“Hyunwoo remove his memories of anything related to Emerald, and drop him off somewhere.” 

“Yes, Mr. Chae.” 

Hyunwoo leaves with Egan and they stay silent until Hoseok’s chain fades away indicating that Hyunwoo relieved her. 

The tension in the air needs a chainsaw and Hyungwon revels in it. He looks at the shocked expression on everyone’s face and cracks his knuckles. “Now, then. Mr. Changkyun, please take your seat, so we can continue with this meeting.” Changkyun’s steps are a bit hesitant, he looks shaken but he follows Hyungwon instructions well. 

Hyungwon claps him on the shoulder once he sits down, Changkyun visibly flinches. “Come to my office later, we should celebrate, Changkyun. You show great promise.”

“Uhh, Thank you, Mr. Chae.”

Hyungwon nods and settles down in his chair again. “Now then, it looks like I’ve overestimated your intelligence. Let me start again, this time with a few more rules.” 

“As I said, I am not your friend. I am your boss, and all of you will do better remembering that. If you think I am not the one to lead you, you’re welcome to leave. If you want to start your new career by selling me out to the other families, I don’t mind but you better hope that I won’t trace that back to you." He relaxes his posture, sweeping his eyes over everyone. Carefully noting who meets his gaze and with what intent. "Things are going to change here whether you like it or not. I am going to give you a contract which is going to state what this family is going to be, and where I intend to lead it. If you sign it, you agree with my vision, and you agree to do whatever I ask you to do. There is no democracy here. If I want to give you a choice, I will. If I don’t want to, I won’t. 

Read the contract thoroughly, and while I don’t want to make it easier for you, let me tell you one thing right now. There is a clause in the contract that states that if you decide to leave the family after signing the contract, then I am well within my rights to remove your memory of anything related to Emerald. Jooheon would you step out.” 

Jooheon steps out of the crowd at the other side of the table, and stands behind Hyungwon, his face stoic. 

“I want you to meet our newest member Jooheon. He has psychic ability. To put it simply, he is a mind-reader. Why am I telling you this now? The contract also states that you can’t share anything confidential with anyone and if you do, Jooheon here is going to know it and I am going to wipe that person’s memory as well. I am not sure how benevolent I will be to that person. Manipulating memory is a delicate job, and Hyunwoo might _accidentally _wipe their whole memory. If you try to be smart about it, and write it somewhere or try some other cope out, even then Jooheon will know, and I will destroy that piece but not without killing you first. Other details would be in the contract but all you need to know is betraying me won’t be pretty for you." 

He looks at the seniors and can't help his satisfying smirk. "I am also removing senior and junior positions. Except for Hoseok and Hyunwoo, everyone will be below me and that's all you need for hierarchy. Now, Hoseok, if you would, please.” 

Hoseok nods, takes out the contracts from his briefcase, and starts handing them out to everyone.

“You can take the contract home and sleep over it. If you have any doubts come in tomorrow after 9 in the morning, and one of us will answer your questions but 2 in the afternoon tomorrow is the deadline for submitting your signed contracts. 

After that, we’ll hold a meeting, and you are going to introduce yourselves _as I ask you to, _and Hoseok and Hyungwoo will brief you on your roles. Your absence tomorrow will be counted as you leaving Emerald which is fine by me as long as you don’t get in my way in the future.

If you have any questions, ask them tomorrow, for now,” He gets up and nods at everyone, “I am done. Changkyun, meet me when you are free. Good day, gentlemen.”

*** 

“Come in.”

Changkyun peeks first and then enters. The nervous persona from earlier completely absent, his apathetic face back on. “That was quite a show you put on there.” 

Hyungwon’s eyes stay glued to the documents on his table. “Well, what can I say, I like putting on shows.” He looks up and takes off his glasses. “But, you seemed to have missed your calling as an actor.”

Changkyun shrugs. 

“How is your roommate today?” Hyungwon asks.

“Which one?” 

“Minhyuk, obviously. I just saw Jooheon.” 

“Same old. Same old. I caught him reading a very very gay magazine last night. He told me some bullshit about needing them to 'study the male anatomy' for his college.” 

“It could be true. He is studying Visual Arts, isn’t he? Hoseok told me.” 

“He had a hand in his pajamas.” 

Hyungwon raises an eyebrow and thinks back on yesterday when Minhyuk had resolutely tried to avoid looking at him. His mouth had said “The only thing that I am interested in when it comes to you is the size of your ego.” but his wandering eyes had told Hyungwon otherwise. 

“Hmmm. Interesting,” is what he settles on as an answer. “Did everyone see you coming in?”

“Yes.” 

“Great. We need to make it clear that I favor you. You need to appear as friendly and as gullible as a puppy,” He thinks about other such things, “or Minhyuk. Tomorrow, start mingling with the ones who sign the contract. Keep your ears open, anyone appears even slightly suspicious, you tell me. Someone mentions Ares, you tell me.” 

“Alright, Hyungwon. One thing though.” 

“What?” 

“Can you call in Hoseok as well? I think he should know it too.” 

***

Hoseok comes in and flicks Changkyun’s head before sitting on the chair beside him.

“Go on then,” Hyungwon says, feeling restless. 

“Minhyuk is...Something is happening to him. He is getting bad headaches. The other day, I saw him looking intently at a spoon and waving his hand as if trying to move it. When I asked him about it, he just laughed it off.” Changkyun’s monotone changes and even Hyungwon can read the worry in his voice.

It’s nothing to worry about though so Hyungwon shrugs it off. “He is probably getting his memories back. I’ll let Hyunwoo know, he will see to it. Just make sure that he doesn’t skip his meds.” 

“I don’t think that’s it. He has either turned twenty-one or he is about to. That’s the age our ability peaks, right? For him, I think his powers are returning.” 

“That’s ridiculous, Changkyun." Hyungwon scoffs in disbelief. "I neutralized his core. It damn near killed me. There is no way that could happen. His hair turned white. The little power that he had left is barely anything. He can’t even move a leaf with that even if he puts all his strength into it.” 

Changkyun is clearly overreacting but did he really have to talk about it in front of Hoseok? Now Hoseok is going to go all overpro-

“His roots are turning ginger again.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Please let me know if you spot any typos. 
> 
> If you have any kind of comment or feedback, don't be shy and just comment or be shy and catch me here: Twitter/Curious Cat - @mellow_minhyuk. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Naked Man Off His Rocker

**10 Years Ago**

“What’s this now? Honestly, dating you Hoseok is not worth the hassle your brother puts me through on the daily.” 

Kihyun’s annoyance has always been a beautiful thing for Hyungwon, it’s so beautiful to him that sometimes he even goes out of his way to irk him. But, this time, with Ares’ body lying on his bed, staining the white sheets red with his blood even when Kihyun tries to heal him, it’s anything but beautiful. 

“This is not working. His wounds are not clotting. It’s abnormal. What did they do to the poor kid?" 

“They put an amplifier in him,” Hoseok replies while going through the file that Hyungwon had given him. Hit with the realization, Kihyun looks at Hyungwon who is sitting beside Ares’ unconscious body. “That’s it! I think his wounds are worsening because even unconscious our cores have a little power which-.” 

“-in his case, the amplifier is amplifying and his body is using too much strength to keep up with this, there’s nothing to spare for blood clotting. We need to nullify his power so there is nothing to amplify.” Hyungwon completes Kihyun’s thoughts while putting his hands on Ares’ face and letting his power flow through his fingertips to Ares’ body. It takes more strength than it should, and he has to maintain his contact for five minutes until he finally feels Ares’ core shutting down.

Kihyun immediately takes over and puts his hands on Ares’ head, a yellow glow emanating from his hands, and the biggest wound on Ares’ thigh finally starts clotting slowly. Very slowly. Kihyun observes the wound like he is observing a rat in his lab, he looks at Hoseok who looks worried and pale enough to pass out at any time. He never was good with blood. 

“He is going to be fine, but it will take a few days because of his unique case,” he looks at the slowly clotting wound and then unties Minhyuk’s gown to look at the bloodied cut spanning his whole chest, “or weeks.” 

***

“Why did you kill the kid when I specifically asked you not to, Hyungwon?” 

At the age of fourteen, Hyungwon stands a little shorter than his father. Unlike Hoseok, he looks him in the eye. He should have been looking down while talking to him, his power demanded it. 

The House of Emerald holds men of power, and among them stands his father, the leader of their gang. Among all these men of power, what makes his father special enough to lead them? Hyungwon would argue nepotism but someone like Hoseok who had been a victim to his ability first-hand would disagree. 

His father can take any power and use it against you. If Hyungwon is an absorber, his father is a reflector. 

If Hyungwon is zero, his father is infinite. 

But the biggest difference between them is that Hyungwon’s power is tangible, it’s the truth. If he nullified your power, it’s gone for how much time he decides to. You can’t change that outcome because it’s the physical reality. Hyungwon’s father is a manipulator. His power is a lie that can be broken if the person has the will to. His power is superficial just like him.

Then, again, what makes him so special? 

It’s the fact that many have tried to break out of his illusions but none has succeeded. 

Hoseok, who can decapitate Hyungwon’s father just by the snap of his fingers, would gladly take the knee if his father asked him to, no questions asked, Why? 

Hyungwon had been eight while Hoseok had been sixteen when he had stood up for himself for the first time. There were tears in his eyes when he had asked Hyungwon’s, technically his as well, father to either accept him as his son or let him go. Hyungwon’s father had scoffed and told him that he will forget this insolence if he kissed his shoe in front of everyone. 

Everything happened in a second, Hoseok snapped his fingers while Hyungwon’s father clapped his hands and then it was over. Hoseok was lying there bawling and begging to stop it. His body thrashing violently on the floor. To Hyungwon, it just looked like he was struggling against the air because physically there was nothing, it was all in Hoseok’s mind. 

Hoseok had crawled on the floor to Hyungwon’s father and then kissed his shoe, his eyes closed in pain. His father had looked at Hoseok as if he was a particularly annoying stray mutt that he hated. As if his screams for mercy were just some loud barks in the dark hours of the night that kept him from sleeping 

His gaze was cold, no emotion, no triumph, nothing. Just calculations. Calculation of how much longer he could keep Hoseok like this before he died. The answer was half-an-hour. 

He made him go through half-an-hour of unimaginable torture just to make a point to Hoseok that he wasn’t a human. He was a pet that would be shocked into submission if it acted out again. 

It had taken Hoseok two years to use his power again. Hoseok never shared what he saw, none of his father’s victims did. 

A man of such power should make Hyungwon quiver but he stands there, his aura just as cold as his father, and his eyes just as calculating. It’s not just because he is a cocky kid. Well, it sure helps but he is not an idiot. 

He isn’t scared of his father because for him to use his ability he has to look at the person directly while that person is using his power to attack him. It’s a counter-defense power that has too many variables to be efficient. On the contrary, all Hyungwon has to do is touch a person. 

Any given day, Hyungwon can shoot him with a gun or stab him with a knife. He is a nullifier, no one’s power can touch him if he decides so. 

He is the more powerful one here. 

Hyungwon’s father holds Hyungwon’s face in his hand, looking him straight in the eyes and Hyungwon realizes the answer to a question he had asked himself many times. 

Sure, no one can use their power against him but why not just shoot him? 

As he is staring into those apathetic eyes which makes his father look above human emotions, he finds the answer. It’s the fear. Fear of him not dying. It’s the possibility of being caught and then subjected to torture by a person who takes no pain or pleasure in suffering. 

“Boy, perhaps I’ve loosened my leash too much. I am not afraid of tightening it if you don’t convince me with your answer. So, speak carefully.” He releases Hyungwon who takes a step back, his face showing nothing. “Yes, father.” 

“Begin.” 

“My first argument. I took 100 men with me to fight against their 60. It took the kid five minutes to wipe out almost half of the men in the field. Some of theirs, some of ours. After his rampage, there were only 20 people left including me. 20 people alive out of 160. The statistics speak for themselves about my decision.” 

“No, they do not. So some of your men died. They are replaceable but that kid wasn’t.”

“No, father. That’s not what I am talking about. He killed indiscriminately. He killed his own men. He was unstable and uncontrollable. He killed everyone that he saw. A soldier that doesn’t know which side to fight against will do us more harm than good.”

“He wasn’t a soldier. He was a weapon, a mindless killing machine. We could’ve released him at any enemy base and he would’ve destroyed it. We just had to make sure that our men weren’t there, and then you could nullify him until his next use. Your first argument is baseless, try again.” 

“Yes, father. My second argument is that I didn’t intend to kill him. I just touched him to nullify his ability but he was thrumming with too much power. The only thing that kept him alive while being in that state was the constant movement of that power. He had an amplifier in him. Once I halted his core, the amplifier short-circuited with the change in influx resulting in his heart imploding.” 

“Is that so? Then why the lie, Hyungwon?” 

“The lie was for men, not for you. They needed to think that it was intentional, otherwise, they would have questioned my skills and your leadership. Other gangs are going to know this as well and be wary of our power. It was a simple PR stunt, nothing more and nothing less.”

His father says nothing as he scrutinizes his face, looking for a hint of a lie in his face, in his eyes, any tick to give him away but Hyungwon stays stoic. Unlike his own father who was born to an honest man and woman, Hyungwon had inherited lies and deceit. It ran in his blood and he was no novice. 

“Alright. All I can hear is you failed. Make sure that doesn’t happen again or there will be consequences. For now, deliver all the research-related documents that you found to my office and you aren’t going to lead until you’ve proved your competency again. You’ll be guarding instead. Am I understood?” 

“Yes, father.” 

A minute later, Hyungwon comes back to his father’s study, a file that says ‘Experiment Ares’ on its cover in his hands. Hyungwon’s father opens the file and dispassionately looks at the picture of a child - that is not actually Ares - and then quickly moves on to the much interesting and gruesome details of the experimentation that Hyungwon botched because he’ll be fucked before making another Ares. 

As his father dismisses him, Hyungwon doesn’t breathe a sigh of relief because his father might have bought his lies but the battle for Ares is by no means even close to the end.

***

**PRESENT**  
  


Deep into the night, there’s a knock on the door of his study, and Hyungwon feels ready to chuck his paperweight onto the door. 

“Go away!”

Hoseok doesn’t listen, of course, and enters anyway. 

“Still so testy while working? Some things never change.” 

“I am going to change the shape of your head if you don’t go away.” 

Hoseok raises his hand in surrender. “I just wanted to talk about Minhyuk.” Hyungwon takes off his glasses, and motions Hoseok to sit down, the sigh on his lips unrestrained. “Did you ask about his hair? 

‘Yeah. His roots turned ginger and he asked Changkyun about it who told him that it’s normal for regressive people with dominant parents to go through such changes when they turn twenty-one. He sulked a bit about losing his pretty white hair and how now he would have to bleach his hair if he wanted to keep that color which would ultimately damage his hair. It was…...a whole thing. His reaction seemed genuine so I think he bought it.” 

“Changkyun is a smart kid. The best lies are the truths. If Minhyuk researched or asked someone else, they would tell him the same thing.” 

“It’s the truth but not for Minhyuk. He isn’t a Regressive with dominant parents, so why is this happening to him? Did you find anything?” 

Hyungwon looks at all the articles he bookmarked and found nothing in. Irritated and defensive, he replies, “No, I didn’t. What about your healer with a scientific temperament. Isn’t it high-time we involve him?” 

Hyungwon regrets saying this out loud as soon as Hoseok face falls. “I am sorry. You don’t have to. I know the last time left him really scarred.” Hoseok takes a deep breath. “It really shook his confidence. I almost lost him but you’re right. We don’t have many options. I will ask him.” 

***

“You are dead, Minhyuk.” Hyungwon whines because he can’t believe the kid has the gall to wake him up by shouting in his ear.

“No, the correct response is ‘You’re like an angel, Minhyuk. Thank you for waking my ungrateful ass up.’ Try again.” 

Hyungwon sits up, his blanket pooling around his waist, eyes burning into Minhyuk. 

“Keep this up and you’ll be dead meat in my refrigerator soon.” 

“Ooooo, a naked man off his rocker is threatening me. I am, like, so scared right now.” Minhyuk turns to walk out but Hyungwon who isn’t very good at taking snark after being woken up so rudely immediately grabs Minhyuk’s hand and pulls him into his bed. Even before Minhyuk can register what’s happening he has Minhyuk against his chest, one arm keeping him there and the other holding his gun against Minhyuk’s forehead. 

He puts his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder and nuzzles his face against his, just to be more intimidating. “My darling Minhyuk, you were saying?” Minhyuk's smart mouth fails to produce a response but their intimate position lets Hyungwon hear his every breath. 

“Sir, you need to stop sleeping with a gun,” Minhyuk whispers finally.

“Hmmm. I think you need to stop testing a man who sleeps with a gun.” Hyungwon whispers back. He turns his head so that his nose is against Minhyuk’s neck, trying to gauge the smell coming from him. 

“You smell familiar.” 

“It’s the perfume that you sent me last month. On my twenty-first birthday.” 

“Yeah, that’s it. You shouldn’t be entering a man’s bedroom while wearing the perfume he gave you, it might give him ideas.” Hyungwon says it to tease Minhyuk, to make him fumble with his words, to make him blush, to do anything that would make him stay in his arms longer because Minhyuk smells heavenly and it feels nice to have a body against his, even if his other hand is holding a gun against the said body.

“I think I am gay.” There are many things that Hyungwon expects Minhyuk to say but this is definitely not one of them. What is he supposed to do with this information? God, is the kid expecting the birds and the bees talk from him? Where is Hoseok when you need him? 

Hyungwon drops his arm and Minhyuk moves away. He turns to face Hyungwon, his head down, legs crossed under him. 

“Okay? Did you just realize that? I am flattered, I guess.” When Minhyuk doesn’t raise his head, Hyungwon sighs dramatically. “It’s hard being this handsome and the cause of everyone’s sexual awakening. The curse of having a perfect body!”

Finally, Minhyuk looks up. “Stop lying to yourself, sir. I...I’ve been thinking about this a lot.” Hyungwon nods for him to go on. “I have nothing more to say. I just wanted to let you know.” 

“Alright, kid. You wanted to let me know that you are available, I get it.” Minhyuk gets up from the bed, annoyance crystal clear on his face. “You are, like, the worst. I just want you to give me some advice!” 

“Advice on what? You don’t need to have penetrative sex if you don’t want to, lube is your friend, use protection always. Always. Even if someone tells you they love you really much. Then, tell them to keep loving you but with a condom on. There you go. Now, shoo, go be gay.” 

Minhyuk looks dumbstruck. “You...you. That’s not what I want advice on!” Hyungwon lets his body slump because Minhyuk is so exhausting. The day hasn’t even begun and he’s already wiped. “Then, what do you want advice on? You’ll have to speak up, I am not Jooheon.” 

“When I kissed girls, I didn’t feel anything. When I realized my attraction for guys, I thought that was it, and kissing a guy would make me feel….something but I met this guy in a club yesterday and I didn’t feel anything special. Is something wrong with me?” 

“Kid, you should go to Hoseok with such questions. I am no good at feelings.” 

“I can’t speak about me kissing people to brother! If you don’t wanna help just say so.” Minhyuk’s pout is too sulky for him to leave Hyungwon alone, so Hyungwon sighs while looking for the right words. “It could be the other person. Being gay doesn’t mean every guy is going to make you happy. It also could be you. Maybe you need a hand on your cock while someone kisses you or you just plain ol’ don’t like kissing. It could also be that his bad kissing technique and your inexperience made it so. Other things could be that you need to be in love with a person to really enjoy kissing. There are many factors here, kid. But, I can assure you that none of this is that deep. In any case, there’s nothing wrong with you.” 

Minhyuk smiles at Hyungwon as if he hung the moon, so it’s imperative for Hyungwon to ruin this moment. “Also, Hoseok and Kihyun are the gayest people I know. You can ask them stuff about kissing people or bondage.” 

“Young Master!” 

***

“How many people signed the contract, Hoseok?” 

“20.” 

Hyungwon laughs. “That sounds about right. All of them juniors?”

“Yeah, almost. We have four seniors.” 

“Hyunwoo, put them under the most scrutiny. There’s no way the people hired by my father would stay when we are changing our direction so radically. They are probably acting as double-agents for another gang or they want something.” 

Hyunwoo, always silent but strong, nods. Hyungwon gets up and buttons his suit jacket. “Alright, then. Let’s get this meeting over with.” 

***

“Now that we are done with the introductions, I would like to welcome you all to this new era of The House of Emerald. Your duties will be decided today and you’ll be briefed on Monday. Take the weekend off and enjoy yourselves because there is hard work ahead. For some of you, great opportunities are coming.” He gives a meaningful glance to Changkyun and makes sure it isn’t subtle at all. “For now, here’s to all of us.” Hyungwon raises his glass followed by the others. 

“To us.”

“To us!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter @mellow_minhyuk
> 
> Let me know if you see any typos or have any comments. Thank you for reading!


	4. The Knight of Creation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I decided to not use italics for flashbacks because the huge chunk of text in italics gives me headache while reading. So, the italics will be used for small flashbacks and inner thoughts written in direct speech.

**10 years ago**

It takes Ares three weeks to gain consciousness.

For three weeks, Hyungwon waits for something. Anything. He prods at Kihyun who tells him off and asks him for more patience and less headache. But, even he looks nervous as the time passes.

Once every two days, Hyungwon shirks his duty as a guard for an hour and visits Kihyun’s house to look at Ares. But, nothing changes, not even the rapid movements behind his closed eyelids.

"I wanted excitement, not a tedious routine", he says out loud to no one as he visits Ares the third time that week.

Ares doesn’t get up, doesn’t protest Hyungwon’s statement, he stays there like a lifelike porcelain doll. The illusion only broken by his deep breaths and the liquid running through the tubes attached to his arm.

It’s on the same night that Hyungwon feels a pull, some instinct telling him to visit his ward.

Going there because his gut is telling him to would be a stupid move that even a much younger and naive Hyungwon would have scoffed at but the more mature and, apparently, stupider Hyungwon lets go of his brain and decides to go there.

It's late at night but he doesn't climb out of the window. Instead, he walks out of the main door in full view of his father’s cronies. If he had jumped out of the window, he might as well had screamed that he is hiding something.

He strolls towards the nearby park, earphones in his ears playing nothing. His senses are acutely tuned with everything around him. He feels aware of everything: the slight wind mussing his hair, the rustling leaves, the gravel crunching beneath his feet and the slight charge of power that he can feel on his fingertips that indicates that someone with an active core is near him.

It’s a new skill that not even his father is aware of. Hyungwon rarely uses it since it requires complete focus and if done wrong gives him a severe headache for hours. He has spent months cultivating it, and it finally comes in handy as he enters the park and lies down on the grass, his elbows folded behind his head.

It takes almost two hours of staring at the moon and channeling all his focus on his surroundings until he finally feels the person leaving. He waits a few more minutes and then sprints towards the bus stand.

***

A very surprised Kihyun opens the door. Hyungwon elbows him aside and barges in. Kihyun will smell his fake politeness from a mile away, so why bother?

His feet and that pesky feeling are already leading him to Ares’ temporary room when Kihyun grabs and spins him. Hyungwon’s questions die on his lips as Kihyun puts his palm on his mouth, his eyes wide with worry.

He puts a finger on his lips and nods in question; Hyungwon nods back in understanding. Kihyun removes his hand and starts leading him to the door that he just came in through.

The words don’t find a way out of their mouths until they are outside.

“What are you doing here?” Kihyun asks, frustration clear in his voice.

Hyungwon’s instinct that had pulled him here is urging him to go see Ares right now. It’s the intensity of this foreign feeling that makes him stay put and listen to KIhyun before going in. “I came to see him.”

“Why?”

Because all my nerves are tingling with something.

Because some intangible force is pulling me in.

He shrugs. “Just felt like it.”

“You shouldn’t hide things from your doctor,” Kihyun mutters, back on his high horse.

“You aren’t my doctor though or a doctor for that matter,” Hyungwon states calmly even as every tingle in his body starts expanding until his whole body feels jittery. It feels as if some invisible force is tugging him to Ares and his resistance seems futile.

Kihyun notices his shaking with curious eyes. “Too many energy drinks?”

“Yeah.” Hyungwon lies. “Why did you drag me here?”

“You followed me.”

Hyungwon clenches his fist to stop his fingers from trembling. “Please.”

That does the trick as Kihyun sighs, his expression concerned. “The kid got up.”

Hyungwon takes a step towards the door but Kihyun catches hold of his wrist which Hyungwom immediately snatches away. It feels like a current is passing through every cell in his body, even Kihyun’s light grip had made him hitch a breath in pain.

“Don’t go in. Something is wrong with him.”

Hyungwon stares at Kihyun looking for answers. For some reason though, it feels like if he looked deep inside himself, the answer is already there.

“What?”

“My sensors went off just two hours ago and I opened the door to check on him. He opened his eyes, no fluttering, no slow blinking, nothing like that. He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. His eyes were awkwardly wide open and his pupils were blown. I think I said ‘Hello’ and checked his pulse? He didn’t react, not even a twitch or blink, he just sat there. His pulse did seem a little slow but that didn't explain whatever he was doing.  
I let go of his arm and it flopped back as if it had no strength. I poked him; I talked to him; I even shone a flashlight in his eyes. No reaction, even his pupils didn’t constrict. That’s not normal, Hyungwon. I think I did something wrong. I think I broke him and it’s just his body and his core and that bloody amplifier now.” Kihyun puts a hand on his mouth, a sob escaping his lips.

Hyungwon processes all the information and looks at Kihyun barely hold back his sobs. He embraces him in a loose hold rubbing his back just like Hoseok does to him and Kihyun. Kihyun's grip on him tightens as he lets a few tears flow.

If Ares died or went in a coma all of this would be for naught. Kihyun and, consequently, Hoseok will never recover.

His body burns where Kihyun’s body is touching his, his trembling getting worse. His instincts scream at him to see the boy and he realizes that something is amiss.

It doesn’t add up. The behavior that Kihyun is describing is normally seen in people with powerful cores who go into a coma or are paralyzed. If their core isn’t shut down, the power builds with no outlet until their body implodes. But before that they too have their pupils blown, but sitting up by themselves? That’s something Hyungwon has never heard of.

Every time that Hyungwon had visited he had poured his energy into nullifying the kid’s core. Not even once that he had touched him, his core was working. There’s no way that his core should be moving when he pushed even more energy just today.

Even discarding that nothing explains the tingles and the pull that he feels towards Ares right now. Something he had thought was just a feeling at home is now building up and it feels like if he stayed here for a few more minutes, the force will become strong enough to drag him to the kid.

He gets out of Kihyun’s hold. “He is not dead.” Kihyun shakes his head, so Hyungwon emphasizes. “He is not dead. I can...feel it. I’ll show you, come follow me.”

Kihyun hesitates but doesn’t stop him. They both enter the room, and when he looks at Ares, he can tell why Kihyun looked so unnerved. The kid is sitting on the bed, his back straight but his whole body looks lifeless.

The illusion of a lifelike doll is even worse with his eyes wide open and his pupils blown. There is no sign of the warm, honey brown eyes that Hyungwon had seen three weeks ago when the kid had smiled and called him an angel of death. He truly looks like the vessel of God of war, a name everyone had been calling him after the battle.

The pull is stronger now as if Ares is a strong magnet and Hyungwon, a small piece of iron. He lets the pull lead him until he is standing in front of Ares, a mere mortal in front a God, his arm lifts itself.

From the corner of his eyes, he can see Kihyun’s shocked expression as sparks fly from his fingers. White, the color he always visualized for his power, even though it technically had none. White sparks fly as his fingertips move closer to Ares’ core below his heart.

Hyungwon should be as shocked and scared as Kihyun right now but instead, he feels serene as if this is meant to be. As if it’s natural and he already knows about this. The part of his brain that should have been questioning lays dormant, his body takes over and screams at him to touch Ares’ core if he doesn’t want the world to end.

He touches Ares’ core and a white glow that he never saw in his life emanates from his hands. Moments later, Ares’s core emanates a red glow of its own and Hyungwon feels his core restarting but his hands refuse to stop.

Ares suddenly takes a deep breath, sucking air into his lungs like he is coming out of the water after almost drowning. His eyes clench shut and open again. The world around Hyungwon shakes. Ares turns his head to look at Hyungwon and then-

_He screams._

*******

**PRESENT**

The dream cuts off and Hyungwon doesn’t hear the scream but he can still feel the world shaking around him. His whole body shakes along with the world.

Instead of taking out his gun, still groggy from sleep, he channels his power to his fingertips as a defense. His hands seek the source of these tremors and his brain tries to find an explanation.

His charged hands almost touch the source but at the last moment, his brain connects the familiar smell to Minhyuk's perfume. He immediately retracts his power to his core and pushes Minhyuk away.

Startled, he puts too much force into his push so Minhyuk stumbles and falls down. Hyungwon sits up, enraged, and throws the sheet away. Minhyuk’s expression changes from shock to scared but Hyungwon doesn’t care. He is seething with the possibility of what could have just happened right now.

He gets up from his bed and drags Minhyuk up by his collar. “What were you doing?” His tone is sharp but it’s nothing compared to the fear and anger flooding his veins.

Minhyuk looks too shocked to speak, so Hyungwon gives him another shake. “Answer me.”

“I...I came to wake you up. You were thrashing in your sleep so I thought you were having a nightmare. I tried waking you up by calling your name but you weren’t reacting. So I started shaking you.”

Hyungwon’s grip tightens on his collar. He holds Minhyuk’s face with his other hand and turns his face slightly upwards until their eyes lock, his hold far from gentle. “Listen close and listen carefully. Are you listening, kid?”

Minhyuk gulps and nods, his eyes still wide with shock.

“Do not ever touch me again until I give you permission to. You want to wake me up? You say my name. I am hanging from a cliff and about to die? You let me die. But you do not touch me. You do not touch me unless I exclusively ask you to.”

Minhyuk gaze turns downwards, his lips wobble and Hyungwon prepares himself for the waterworks.

“What if I want to hug you? Do I need permission for that as well?” He is looking into Hyungwon’s eyes now, anger replacing his shock.

Hyungwon shakes his head and removes his hands. The audacity of this kid. “If I am facing you, no but if you are coming from behind, yes.” Hyungwon's adrenaline rush is fading away and Hyungwon decides to be more merciful to Minhyuk.

Minhyuk eyes narrow and there’s that short temper that Hoseok used to tell him about on the phone. “You are a hypocrite! You touch me all the time. You should be asking for my permission if anything.”

Hyungwon pokes Minhyuk’s cheek. “I am the boss here. Your master if you are forgetting, brat. I can do whatever I want. If I ask you to do a headstand right now, you are obligated to do that. It’s just that Hoseok and I spoil you too much.”

“No.” Minhyuk tilts his head, his eyes still narrowed, not accepting Hyungwon’s attempt at lightening the mood. “I call you ‘sir’ and ‘young master’ because I am used to it. If you think for one second that you own me then I am afraid that your old age has made you delusional, sir.”

Hyungwon thinks of a younger Minhyuk who used to trail after him whenever Hyungwon visited him. Clutching his whale plushie and following Hyungwon around quietly, so quietly that even Hyungwon forgot about his presence. Even as Minhyuk grew used to their routine, he remembers him tearing up while asking Hyungwon to not abandon him, pleading that he’ll do anything if Hyungwon stayed.

He thinks of that scared child and tries to match that image with this force of a man standing in front of him, fearless in his stand.

The defiance in Minhyuk’s eyes intrigues Hyungwon. He is reminded once again that he doesn’t know him.

He knows the child Minhyuk who struggled against his trauma. He doesn’t know this adult Minhyuk who holds no fear, doesn’t rely on Hyungwon, and is defiant to authority. He is the Minhyuk without his traumatic past.

This isn’t Hyungwon’s ward, raised in the darkest corners of humanity where even God grieves. This is Hoseok’s Minhyuk, raised with love and care.

Minhyuk turns to walk out but he looks back again once he reaches the door. “And not touching you won’t be a problem, Hyungwon.”

Minhyuk leaves while Hyungwon stands still like a lifelike statue. Shocked by something as simple as Minhyuk uttering his name.

_Hyungwon._

There was no hesitation. His delicate lips had formed his name effortlessly as if he had chanted it every day which Hyungwon knows isn’t true.

This is the first time that Minhyuk had addressed him by his name. It leaves Hyungwon’s mind in chaos. His heart is still beating just the same yet his blood feels like it’s racing across his veins. It shouldn’t have this much effect on him but it does.

If it was his helpless ward it wouldn’t have affected him but instead, it’s this strange man who wears his gifted perfume, comes every other day to wake him up, gets flustered by his naked body in bed and says his name like it's a curse and a prayer.

Hyungwon takes a deep breath and shakes this spell away.

***

“Any update from Hoseok?”

“No.”

Over the past few days, Hyungwon’s study has become his sanctuary. He feels safer here than he does in his own bedroom. Part of the reason is definitely its small size that deludes Hyungwon into thinking that if someone barged in then he’ll be able to neutralize or shoot them easily. But, the other reason is the evenings he spent here as a child. Spending time with Hoseok, teaching him what he learned from his tutors.

His father always told him that a man attached to his chess pieces will lose. If that so Hyungwon has two pieces out there that will undo him. One of them, his brother, is out there right now fighting in a war of Hyungwon’s making. Hyungwon feels the anxiety that he always does when Hoseok fights his battles for him.

But Hoseok is one of the most powerful ability users in their area. He has Shownu who just has to give a slight touch to make a man kill himself or his own men. He has Jooheon who can read your mind, and predict your every move even before your brain processes it, armed with his sharp daggers and throwing stars, a number of poisons waiting in his harmless satchel ready to blind or burn you, he is the most dangerous of all rookies.

If they had Changkyun with them, the game would have finished even before it had started.  
Not to forget the juniors that are joining them, no matter how inexperienced they are, they were chosen for a reason. A novice gang started by their former members doesn't have a chance against them.

The war waged against them by their scorned former members was predictable. It’s the stupidity of challenging them upfront that has Hyungwon more surprised. You would think that seniors with so many years of experience under their belt would know better. Then, again, Hyungwon’s father did like surrounding himself with brainless yes men who didn’t know how to use their strong abilities until his father told them.

“Alright, then why are you here?”

Changkyun sits there as if he owns the place. His legs crisscrossed even though he is sitting in a chair as if touching the floor is too “normal” for him. He is wearing a black shimmery shirt with flowers on it, double-winged eyeliner emphasizing his feline features.

“I was supposed to go to a gay club with Minhyuk around 11.”

Hyungwon raises an eyebrow. “Okay? Enjoy?”

Changkyun sighs as if Hyungwon not reading his mind and forcing him to say stuff is getting tedious for him. “I was supposed to go with him but I can’t. One of the seniors that I had been keeping track of is meeting someone today at Rodeway inn around 10. I am going to follow him and I don’t know how much time it would take.”

Hyungwon shrugs and goes back to typing a brief for the next week’s task for his minions. “Just tell him you will go some other day.”

“Well, I did. But something pissed him off or aroused him today, I dunno what but he was very insistent on going there even if it’s alone.” The way his already strong gaze intensifies gives Hyungwon a pause. He folds his arms, his attention completely on Changkyun now.

“Well, be more convincing. We can’t possibly let him go alone this late at night.”

“I tried. What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, client. You can’t go because your bodyguard, me, is not available.' That would go well with his abandonment issues.”

“God, don’t do that. It’s very important for him to think that you are friends, that he made a friend.”

“We are friends.” Changkyun stresses.

“Are you? Then, should I stop giving you a salary as his official bodyguard?” Hyungwon says teasingly, although curious about the answer.

“You can. I’ll still be friends with him but getting a new job might get in the way of guarding him, just saying.”

Hyungwon smirks, satisfied. “Well, I appreciate your honesty. Now, again, what do you want from me?”

“Everyone else is busy with the fight and Kihyun told me, 'I would rather put acid in my eyes than see Hoseok’s kid grinding on sleazy men’, that's a direct quote, by the way.”

Hyungwon’s lips twitch slightly because of the way Changkyun imitates Kihyun’s lisp perfectly. “Again, what do you want from me? Hurry it up. I don’t have time for your stories.”

Changkyun eyes twinkle and Hyungwon already knows he is not going to like wherever this is going. “You are the only one left. You’ll have to go there with him.”

Hyungwon scoffs. “No.”

“Well, then don’t come to me crying when someone kidnaps him.”

“What makes you think that I won’t pour acid into my eyes rather than see Hoseok’s kid grind on sleazy men?”

Changkyun gives up his facade and the corner of his lips quirk up with mischievousness. “Something tells me that you wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

Hyungwon’s eyes narrow. “Well, you are wrong. Go find someone else. It’s 7. You still have time.”

Changkyun deflates, his whole demeanor changing to that of a drowning kitten and Hyungwon reminds himself that Changkyun is a spy trained in manipulation. He can change his whole persona within a blink of an eye exactly like right now.

“Please, Hyungwon? I won’t be able to focus if I am not sure that someone is looking out for Minhyuk. If you can’t, it’s understandable. You are a busy man.” He looks down, and fiddles with his finger. “I guess I’ll let this big lead go and join Minhyuk instead. Someone has to care about him.” There is no accusation in his tone but he has said all the right words.

Hyungwon slumps into his chair, his eyes stuck to the ceiling. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Changkyun jumps up from his seat. “Great! I’ll text you the address. Make sure you reach there before 11 and make it look like you are there by accident. Bye!”

Just like that, he is gone and Hyungwon has never felt more played.

***

Around 8, Hoseok and company come back with the good news that the rebellion has been quashed successfully. Hyungwon tells himself that this was predictable and he shouldn’t worry over Hoseok, now only if he could separate himself from the hug that he gives his brother as soon as he enters his study, not even a hair out of place.

“Aww, were you scared, little brother?”

“Never.”

***

Not even in his wildest dreams did Hyungwon think that he’ll be sitting in front of the bar counter, nursing a beer at a gay bar, looking at the door instead of the writhing men. But, here he is, doing exactly that just because his highness feels like exploring his sexuality late at night.

Didn’t the kid go to college or something? Don’t they have gay people there? Or does he need someone’s cock poking him to know that they are interested in him? Whatever the case is, it’s 11:15, and the kid is still nowhere in sight.

Finally, finally, he sees a head full of platinum white hair attached to an androgynously built body stumbling in. His shifty eyes doing a bad job of hiding his nervousness. Predictably, the kid comes to the bar counter and doesn’t even look around.

Must be nice to enter a place and not scope it out first for possible dangers, Hyungwon thinks snidely.

He lets the kid order and take a sip from his drink before making his move. His steps are light and quick even though there is no way Minhyuk will hear him moving with the loud thumping bass of the club. He slides in beside him and whispers. “Come here often, sexy?”

Predictably, Minhyuk startles but unpredictably his glass slips out of his hands and the liquid spills on Hyungwon’s shirt.

“I am so- Sir!”

Hyungwon looks at his completely soaked shirt and then at Minhyuk. “If you wanted me to take off my shirt, you could have just asked.” This makes Minhyuk snap out of his shock and huff. “Come on. Let’s go to the restroom. I’ll help you clean up.”

Now Minhyuk is a naive boy who probably has never entered this establishment before but Hyungwon has spent his previous years in cheap establishments just like this. So, he knows that the only place more obscene than the dance floor and the alley behind this club is the restroom but he follows Minhyuk because what else can he do?

Once they enter the restroom, the first thing that Hyungwon does is look at the stalls and yup, the unrestrained moans answer his questions.

Minhyuk’s resolute effort to not look at the stalls lets him know that the boy indeed has functioning ears and can hear them too.

Minhyuk faces Hyungwon and looks at his shirt, the stain shining even through the black fabric and covering his whole front. He takes out a few tissues from the dispenser and hands them to Hyungwon.

"Are you serious? Do you think this would work?"

Minhyuk huffs. "At least, give it a try. What are you doing here anyway?"

Hyungwon rubs the tissue over the wet stains ceremoniously, knowing they won't do anything. "Just thought I'll have a night out. Blow off some steam."

Minhyuk nods, accepting his answer. He looks at Hyungwon's still completely soaked shirt. “I don’t know what to do.” The boy finally admits.

Hyungwon takes his chance and says, “I guess, I’ll just go home. I thought I’ll take a break but maybe the universe isn’t feeling kind. Hoseok is spending his night at Kihyun’s. I guess I’ll just go to my big empty mansion and stay there alone.” He adds a little extra sadness in his tone, and of course, Minhyuk who isn’t used to Hyungwon’s manipulation takes the bait.

“I am sorry. I...I’ll join you?”

_Oh, naive Minhyuk._

“Will you? Oh, thank you. We’ll watch a movie or something. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, okay.”

_Oh, sweet Minhyuk._

They move towards the exit but before leaving Minhyuk turns around to look at the dance floor once more. Instead of excitement, his eyes speak of disappointment and loss as if he came looking for something that he’ll never find. “This was my first time alone here. I thought I’ll meet someone. Dance with someone.” He sounds so hopeless as if he is leaving the ticket to heaven behind. His eyes and solemn tone reminds him of the child who always promised him that he'll behave if Hyungwon didn't leave him.

Hyungwon sighs. “Come with me.”

Hyungwon pushes into the midst of the dancing crowd, Minhyuk on his heels. He spots what he wants in the form of a man similar to his build wearing a black leather jacket. He turns to face Minhyuk who looks back at him with wide eyes. “Wait here, kid. I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t go anywhere, okay?” Minhyuk nods and Hyungwon moves towards his target.

Once he reaches him, he moves in front of him and gives his sweetest smile. “Hi!”

The man smiles back but Hyungwon can read the surprise in his eyes. It’s not every day that someone like Hyungwon offers you himself on a platter.

The man is handsome in the most conventional way. His dark black hair complements his tanned skin, a charming smile with straight white teeth, a strong jawline with slight stubble, his tall and slim frame accentuated by his skinny jeans and grey fitted tee. Hyungwon's object of affection, a black leather jacket, completing his look.

Another night and Hyungwon would have had made a move in the earnest.

“Hey!” the guy says.

“Hi. I spilled my beer on my shirt. Do you think I can borrow your jacket?”

“Hmm. Let me think,” the guy says coyly. “What do I get in return?”

Hyungwon leans in so that his lips are brushing against the guy’s ear. “Tell you what, towards the end of the night, if you find me I’ll make sure that you get me and this jacket back to your place.”

The guy puts his hand around his waist, pulling him a little closer and Hyungwon doesn’t resist. “Deal?”

“Deal.”

The guy grins while taking off his jacket and hands it to Hyungwon who smiles at him. “Remember the deal only stands if you find me.”

“Oh, I’ll find you. You don’t have to worry.”

Hyungwon smirks in response. He quickly swaps his shirt with the jacket in the restroom. One of the guys gives him a look that Hyungwon ignores and zips up his jacket to his neck. He throws the shirt in the bin and brushes his hand through his hair, bracing himself for a long night.

When he comes out, Minhyuk is where he had left him, the difference is that there wasn’t a man grinding against him when he had left him there. Hyungwon moves closer and taps Minhyuk's shoulder. Minhyuk lets go of the guy and gives Hyungwon a smug smirk. The realization finally dawns on Hyungwon that he has been played again by another punk in the same night.

Hyungwon can’t believe he actually bought the whole kicked puppy act.

_Oh sweet, naive Hyungwon._

“You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

Minhyuk smiles, tone loaded with smugness, he says, “You can go home. As if I’ll willingly spend some time alone with you. That woe-is-me act that you were pulling? I invented that.” A casual shrug. “Just wanted to show you how it’s actually done.”

He turns back and tries to look for his previous partner but the guy has already moved on. He starts dancing on the same spot knowing that someone will come to him before he knows..

His short black sleeveless top rides up as he lifts his hands in the air swaying his hips to the rhythm playing in the club. It gives everyone interested, an enticing view of his waist. Asking people to uncover him, promising much more. He undulates his hips as if grinding against an invisible person. Anyone with an active imagination can visualize how his body would roll during something much more obscene than dancing.

Minhyuk spins on his feet, facing Hyungwon again. Hyungwon’s eyes leave his hips and move to his knowing smile. “I am not the child that idealized you, sir. You’ll have to do better than that to trick me.” And then he is gone, one with the crowd that works the night through swaying hips and half-empty promises.

Hyungwon climbs the step to the ramp overlooking the dance floor and watches Minhyuk. He declines any drinks and conversations offered. Sipping a soft drink, his eyes stay intently on Minhyuk and his surroundings while he dances. Then, trained like a hawk on the bartender as a guy buys Minhyuk some shots. Minhyuk starts dancing with him. His hips covered by the guy's large hands that barely give a peek of Minhyuk's naked skin under them.

It’s when the guy starts kissing his neck that Hyungwon notices Minhyuk stiffening. He takes a last sip from his second bottle of beer, not even slightly buzzed, and gets up. He walks towards the eye of the storm where Minhyuk is dancing, his path filled with bodies bumping into his left and right.

He finally reaches Minhyuk who looks like a deer stuck in headlights, his hands no longer roaming over the body that has now moved to kissing his lips. His partner does not even notice that even though his companion’s lips might be reciprocating his advances, his body has stopped responding. Minhyuk's eyes look as if they are clenched shut more because of sheer will rather than out of a natural response.

Without any hesitation, he moves behind Minhyuk and jerks his body into his so that Minhyuk is flushed against his chest. Hyungwon buries his face in Minhyuk’s neck smelling that familiar heady smell mixed with his sweat. “Hello, love. You are quite a busy bee, aren’t you?”

“What the fuck?” The guy looks baffled as one would in this situation. He did invest money and time so he was probably expecting some more action from the guy who had been practically humping him for an hour now. Oh well, boo fucking hoo.

Hyungwon wraps his arms around Minhyuk's waist and feels him slightly slump against his body. “Sorry, mate. Your time is done. It’s his boyfriend’s turn now.”

“Boyfriend?” The guy says, probably rhetorically, as he looks Hyungwon up and down. “Cool. A threesome?”

Hyungwon makes a show of checking him out and then does a harmless shrug. “Not tonight. Some other time.” The guy looks a bit disappointed but takes the answer and moves onto his next target of the night.

Minhyuk turns in Hyungwon’s arm and embraces him promptly. Hyungwon lets him and rubs his back soothingly.

“Why am I like this? Why can’t I just let go and feel it?”

Hyungwon pulls back to look at his eyes, trying to spot if there are any tears. There is nothing there except disappointment mixed with self-loathing. “No. Didn’t I tell you that it’s different for everyone but whatever it is, you’re not damaged.”

Minhyuk stares at him and then looks away. “I think I wanna go home now.”

That’s what Hyungwon wanted, didn’t he? But, the night has taken him and Minhyuk under its cover. The noise of their past and future is lost to the sounds of loud music and there might never be another chance like this. Standing under the club nights, there might never be a chance again to see this beautiful and familiar stranger work the night. It sounds wrong to let go so easily because who knows what the night will bring.

“Why? You said you wanted to dance with someone. Dance with me. I will be your someone for the night.”

Minhyuk shakes his head but his soft smile is unmistakable. “How can I dance with someone I have no permission to touch?”

“I give you permission to touch me until I drop you at your place. There, done.”

Minhyuk’s sunny smile overtakes his face until he transforms from a seductress with his glossy lips and glittery eyes into sunshine incarnate.

He steps closer, hand moving to Hyungwon’s jacket. He unzips a bit and waits for Hyungwon’s protest which doesn’t come and then unzips it completely, rendering the whole jacket useless. “There. Now you look less like an idiot, young master.”

Hyungwon shakes his head, enchanted by Minhyuk’s boldness. “I was promised a dance, not a lesson in stripping from a punk like you.”

Minhyuk’s face is like a blank canvas made of the finest material, transforming into what his owner wants and always doing it so beautifully. Each paint stroke standing out on its perfect texture until the color spreads and blooms. Hyungwon realizes this as Minhyuk’s face changes again to the mysterious being of the night, trapping mortals like Hyungwon with his beauty.

“Let this punk teach you other lessons, sir.” He smiles seductively, and even Hyungwon, who is completely aware that he is by far the more experienced one in this situation, feels intrigued. The three years and many people that he has over Minhyuk look insignificant as he stares into those all-knowing eyes.

He looks at that sweet yet sensual quirk of lips again, intrigued and charmed. Hoseok’s kid is going to break hearts, Hyungwon thinks.

“Let’s dance, Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk's smile softens, his eyes flutter close as he tilts his head upwards, hips swaying slightly. His arms go around Hyungwon’s neck while Hyungwon’s hand goes around his waist and then they dance.

They dance for an hour or so but Hyungwon can’t tell you the time in minutes. He can tell you the time in Minhyuk’s provocative stares, his knowing smiles. He can you the time in each step he took back to maintain a distance between them. He can tell you the time in goosebumps that rise on Minhyuk’s arms when Hyungwon’s hands move back to his waist, now completely in contact with his naked skin while Minhyuk’s hand find their place in his hair, twirling it, ruffling it, playing with it innocently even as his hips move dangerously close.

Minhyuk stops moving and steps closer, his lips beside Hyungwon’s ears. “Tell me, sir. What should I do if I think a person might make me feel what the others don’t?”

Hyungwon doesn’t say anything. Maybe in another life, he would have answered, “You should tell them” and let the night lead them. But in this life, they aren’t just two strangers attracted to each other. They are two strangers with a past. There are so many things here that can go so wrong so easily. One misstep and everything will come crashing down, so he has no choice but to pretend that he can’t read Minhyuk’s hints.

He takes a step back, arms leaving Minhyuk. “There are some things that are better learned than taught.” Minhyuk smile drops to give way to his confusion, and yeah, that makes sense. He is the guy who spent an hour on Hyungwon while Hyungwon indulged him, with every roll of his body that just barely not touched Minhyuk, he made him think that there's a possibility for more.

The fact of the matter is, there isn’t. Their past is too interconnected in the most convoluted way possible, two many threads interlinking them but too many knots complicating any possibility of a relationship. There are things that Minhyuk doesn’t know about them, about their past, about his own past and Hyungwon will make sure it stays that way.

“I am exhausted, kid. Come on, let’s drop you home.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

They move towards the exit but before they can leave, someone taps Hyungwon on the shoulder. True to his promise, the jacket guy stands there catching Hyungwon before he could leave.

He looks at Hyungwon and then Minhyuk. “I am guessing that I am not the one who’s taking you and this jacket home.”

Hyungwon gives him a tired smile. “Yeah. You want your jacket back?”

The guy smiles back sheepishly. “Yeah, it’s kinda costly. I kind of got caught up in the moment and have been regretting my decision since then.”

Hyungwon laughs. “That’s alright. Is it okay if I pay you instead?”

The guy gives him a thankful smile. “Yeah. That would work.”

Hyungwon takes out his wallet and hands over the amount the guy asks for without any fuss. The guy takes the money and puts it in his own wallet. “This your boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Hyungwon responds because it’s simple.

“No,” Minhyuk responds because Hyungwon just rejected him.

The guy raises an eyebrow. “Uh. Okay. Well, then if you are single,” he smiles at Minhyuk, “then let’s hang out sometime. You are cute. I’ve seen you around in college,” He scrunches his nose, “but I never had the courage to ask because I thought you might be straight.”

Minhyuk smiles and even though it’s dimmed, it’s still a Minhyuk smile so, of course, the guy stares at it in awe. “Yeah, sure. Let’s hang out sometime.”

The guy nods happily and wishes them goodnight.

***

Hyungwon dreads getting inside the car because alone in the silence Minhyuk might call Hyungwon out and ask him why he danced with him like that if he had no interest. His fears are unfounded though because within two minutes of Hyungwon getting the car out of the parking and into the road, Minhyuk dozes off.

When they reach his place, Hyungwon finds it much easier to pick Minhyuk up bride style and carry him to the door than wake him up and face him again. The difficulty comes when he is standing at the huge wooden door and has no idea how to knock or ring the doorbell with Minhyuk in his arms.

His problem is solved by their homegrown psychic, Jooheon, who opens the door probably predicting it. He lets Hyungwon enter and then gestures to follow him. He leads them to the farthest room in the house and nods towards the bed. Hyungwon takes the cue and gently lays Minhyuk down on his bed.

Jooheon takes the lead from there. He unbuttons Minhyuk’s jeans and then covers him with a blanket, tucking him gently. He stays there for a second looking at Minhyuk, his expression solemn and bends down to give him a simple peck on his forehead and then leaves the room. Hyungwon looks at Minhyuk for a second and then follows Jooheon out.

This whole interaction passes without Jooheon saying a word but Hyungwon is used to Jooheon’s silence since he was a child. He rarely spoke to people other than Minhyuk and Kihyun, and now probably Changkyun. So, no, his silence doesn’t bother him. Instead, it’s his voice that startles him as he reaches the door. “You can’t stop the inevitable.”

Hyungwon has never been scared of someone speaking. Even the ability users who need their voice to use their abilities don’t scare him as Jooheon’s voice does. It’s not so much his voice but rather the words that he chooses to speak and the way he speaks.

It’s the way his sentences sound like prophecies.

“Yeah? You saw my future.” Hyungwon jokes. He knows that Jooheon’s ability doesn’t work that way. He can look into someone’s past if he touches them. It’s visual like transferring memories frame by frame. He can read someone’s mind if he is in a certain proximity. Jooheon can hear their thoughts. But when it comes to having ‘visions’ into the future, more than seeing or hearing, it’s intuitive. It’s like a thread linked to Jooheon unraveling or connecting somewhere and Jooheon feeling its tug and then interpreting it. Sometimes it’s correct, sometimes it’s not.

But, Hyungwon remembers one other time that a much younger and chubbier Jooheon had told Hyungwon something that Hyungwon had scoffed at the time but had later recognized as a true prophecy when he had been on a plane flying far away from Hoseok and Minhyuk.

It’s the same now as he says, “I see the universe telling me that your carefully weaved lies will come undone. The queen has set the chess and you’re just a piece who doesn’t know he is being played. A new player, that even the queen doesn’t know of, has come in. Make your moves very carefully, the universe is not on your side.”

The riddle unnerves him and he feels the urge to throw Jooheon off. “Yeah? Well, does the universe also want me to bang Minhyuk? Any insight into that, Mr. Psychic.”

Jooheon doesn’t flinch, his tone doesn’t waver. “You need destruction for creation. You need creation for destruction. It’s a fine line and one wrong move will tip you to the wrong side.”

Hyungwon, tired of these riddles after a long night, sighs. “Well, that answers my question. Thank you so much, Jooheon.” Jooheon doesn’t respond to his sarcasm, his eyes now faraway.

“Well, alright, I’ll take my leave then. Good night.”

“The prince of war is coming. You better place your pieces right. There will be a time when the universe will test you and you’ll need to make a tough choice. Fight your emotions and you’ll have the answer. Cling to reason and you’ll be repaid.”

Hyungwon stills and Jooheon’s eyes refocus again, back from the place with uncountable threads. “Good night, Knight of creation.”

The door slams shut but Hyungwon finds himself unmoving, replaying Jooheon’s words again and again and again.

_Knight of creation, huh?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun. 
> 
> It's been a while but the next update will be sooner. The story is moving along, anyone excited?  
If you spot any typos, let me know. Don't be shy to comment with your thoughts and theories. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Twitter: @mellow_minhyuk


	5. Gods and Core-Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.  
"I'll update it frequently since the chapters are shorter."  
S(he) be(lie)ve(d).

**10 Years Ago**

A few months ago, Hoseok had taken him and Kihyun to his mother’s village. A quiet place on the outskirts of their bustling town shielded from the sins of the city where every stranger was either forgettable or your enemy.

They had shuffled into the village, walking in line on the narrow path that led up to the houses, wearing masks to avoid the dust coming from the freshly plowed fields during the windy day. The villagers had looked at them with curiosity and excitement. Hoseok - the only mask-free son of the soil in their company of three - had bowed to the elders who were sitting in plastic chairs scattered around the towering tree in the center of the village.

Their glasses had slid from their noses and their newspapers had stayed forgotten as they had run their eyes over the two strangers accompanied by the son of their village’s daughter. Their callused hands had felt rough as they had cupped Hyungwon’s face in affection when he had given them his own deep bow. They had smelled like earth and old blankets while their smiles had reeked of tobacco as they had prodded at him and Kihyun.

Denying the many offers of food and hospitality, Hoseok had taken them to the temple tucked in the corner of the village where the fields ended and the valley began. Kihyun had skidded on the steep slope to the temple and Hoseok had caught him by the arm. In front of the natural elevation on which the temple was built, they had climbed the broad steps carved out of stone. Kihyun and Hyungwon holding Hoseok’s hands, wary of the monkeys sitting and staring at them.

They had left their shoes on the arbitrary boundary set by the three small steps made of cement in front of the temple. The temple was a curious structure, open and spacious. Littered with skid marks of monkey feces and the many leaves shed by the sprawling bodhi tree growing above one of the small temples inside of it, it definitely wasn’t the clean and clinical structure that Hyungwon had imagined the temples to be.

The temple had an empty space in the middle like a courtyard and housed four small temples inside of it, each dedicated to a different deity on its three sides. Hoseok went behind the temple with the tree, its backside facing the valley, and came back with a broom and started sweeping the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Hyungwon and Kihyun kept staring at the temple with the bodhi tree completely entranced. The way it looked so out of place kept bugging Hyungwon. The other three temples were similar in structure and facade: small with just enough room for the stone they were housing. The only thing an adult could do was kneel and let their upper body enter through their tiny entryway to light a candle. The temples' roof had an arched dome and the outer walls were rugged, made of baked mud bricks. Juxtaposed to their traditional architecture, the sparkling white color on their walls spoke of a fresh paint job.

But the fourth temple looked completely out of place to Hyungwon. Unlike the others, it was built like a simple room. It was bigger and more spacious. Two people could easily stand inside after bending a little.

While the other temples looked freshly renovated, this temple still had the light brown color of mud bricks with not even a speck of paint over it. Then there were the mysterious carvings on it that were missing from the other three. The symbols strung together with regular breaks made them look like sentences written in an ancient now-forgotten language.

But the most glaring difference was the huge sprawling bodhi tree growing on its plane roof, penetrating its walls with its thick roots. The tree looked as ancient as the forgotten language and even with the monkeys sitting on its branches, it looked untouchable. It had the aura of housing the secrets of the universe within its thick branches like the temple itself didn’t. There was this charged energy around it that Hyungwon could feel - and so could Kihyun judging by the awe in his eyes - as if he was this close to touching a million strong cores.

Sitting on the blanket that Hoseok had taken out of his bag while eating the sandwiches that Kihyun had packed for them, Hyungwon's eyes had followed the length of the tree until he had noticed the red threads bound around its trunk.

“What’s the story behind this tree?” Hyungwon asked Hoseok because, of course, where there’s an unexplained phenomenon, there’s mythology waiting on its feet to explain it.

“Yeah but first tell me, can you feel something?”

Hyungwon observes his fingertips. “Yeah, some kind of sensation. Almost like an electric current?”

Hoseok nods, a proud smile on his face. “Amazing. You are so young and yet you can feel it. You are going to be so powerful, I just know it.” Hyungwon smirks and sticks his tongue out to Kihyun.

Hoseok, quite used to their teasing, swiftly moves on. “Well, to start, let me tell you the story behind it.” He takes a huge bite out of his sandwich, finishing while looking at the tree. “It is said that a long time ago, the God of war...” Hoseok pauses, giving Hyungwon a chance to say the name but Hyungwon can’t because in his holistic study lessons theology had never been his priority. Hyungwon peers at Kihyun expecting an answer but Kihyun looks just as lost as him.

Hoseok looks at them both and then sighs in disappointment. “The God of war, Ares was borne to Nira, the God of flora and arts. Bubbly and beautiful, he was cherished and spoiled by every god. While Aja was a mortal priest who worshipped Egan, the God of fauna and spirituality. As a devoted priest of Egan, he was invited to the coming of age ceremony of Ares.”

“Love at first sight?” Kihyun quips, a cheesy smile on his face.

Hoseok laughs. “Far from it. Ares was really nervous since his whole life, he was kept sheltered. So now that so many people were coming to see him, he panicked and hid inside the cave that Aja was meditating in. Mischievous Ares grew bored after a while and took it upon himself to disrupt Aja’s meditation.

Since a young age, Ares was engaged with Xero, the God of destruction and as Xero’s intended, he couldn’t touch him, lest overprotective Xero would banish or kill Aja so instead, he started singing. Lost in his own thoughts, he started dancing to his own tunes, his face hidden behind a red veil as was the ritual for gods back then. And that’s how Aja had first seen Ares.”

“And then they fell in love and fucked in the cave?” Hyungwon drawled.

Hoseok smacks him on his head while rolling his eyes. “Stop hanging out with those loafers in the gang. Your tongue has become so vile.” Hyungwon winces and rubs the back of his head.

Kihyun puts his head on Hoseok’s shoulder and gives Hyungwon a stink eye. “Then what, Hoseok?”

“Well, Aja was a devoted priest and thus wasn’t amused by Ares’ disruption. So he scolded Ares. Ares, who was cherished like a fragile flower by every other god, became intrigued by this mortal who had the audacity to scold him even after Ares had confessed his identity.

Aja stormed out of the cave and told Ares that he was an immature child for running out of his own ceremony. So Ares went back and finally performed, all the while seeking Aja who had decided against seeing his performance out of grudge. Enraptured by his sensuality and grace, he gained many followers and was officially crowned a god. He lifted his veil, revealing his ethereal face and his followers made him the God of beauty. But his eyes kept seeking Aja. As seasons passed, Ares gained popularity among mortals and started climbing ranks as a god. But Aja still didn’t pray to him.

Fed up, he decided to visit him in disguise and pretended to be the caretaker of the temple in which Aja prayed to Egan. Aja started talking to him and gradually they fell in love until Aja asked for Ares’ hand in marriage. Ares confessed his real identity. Betrayed, Aja stopped talking to him.”

“Ooh, we have reached the conflict point,” Hyungwon says, caught up in the story.

“Yeah. Ares shut himself inside the house and refused to meet anyone. Even summoned by his devotees, he didn’t visit. On the other end, Aja found himself missing Ares so much that he started giving in until he went to Ares’ temple and prayed to him. But grief-stricken Ares didn’t even hear his prayers. Helpless, Aja asked Egan to deliver his message. Endeared by their love, Egan sent a bird to Ares to deliver his letter. Ares saw the message and visited Aja in his house. They confessed their love to each other and they, uh-”

“Fucked?” Hyungwon provides.

“Did the devil’s tango?” Kihyun adds.

Hoseok shakes his head, a sigh leaving his lips. “Made love. They made love. They got married in secrecy with Egan as their only witness and set up a small house lying far away from the village,” Hoseok gestures towards the temple with a flourish, “So, yeah, they set up a house here and started living as a married couple. They continued to love each other even as Ares’ popularity grew. As years passed, he became the muse of many artists and object of affection for many gods. Jealous, Xero asked Nira to consummate their engagement but Ares, of course, refused.”

“This is going to have a sad ending,” Kihyun whispers as Hoseok wraps his arm around his waist.

“Fed up, Ares confessed to Xero about his marriage to Aja and begged Nira to accept and bless them. Nira gave them their blessings but Xero felt humiliated. He imprisoned and tortured Aja. Ares broke in and took Aja back to their secluded home. But, unfortunately, Aja was on the brink of death, so Ares took out his core - which only gods had at the time - and broke it in half. He integrated that half core in Aja to bring him back, to heal him.”

“Why only half? Did he love his core more than his husband?” Hyungwon chimes in. A cynical smile marring his baby face.

Hoseok ruffles his hair roughly. “No, that’s not why. He gave him half of his core since a full core could be too strong for a mortal.”

Hyungwon swats his hand away and runs a hand through his now messy hair. “How convenient. It’s almost like a person made this story up.”

“It’s not about if the story is real or not, it’s about what it represents.”

Hyungwon opens his mouth to retort but is interrupted by Kihyun’s impatient voice asking Hoseok to continue the story.

“Aja lived and developed powers. Like Ares, he could control the flora. Xero decided to wage a war against Ares who had to fight alone if he wanted to make sure that Xero couldn’t lay a claim on him.”

“Why?” Kihyun asks.

“Because the other gods didn’t take kindly to Ares’ ‘infidelity’ and it was decided that the only way he could break it off with Xero was if he fought him without the other gods on his side. And while his followers offered, kind Ares didn't want them to fight in the war of his own making. So while Xero had an army of demons behind him, Ares was alone. Egan and Nira gave him a quarter of their cores to make sure that he had a fair chance. The legends say that he killed thousands of Xero’s demons alone which gave him the title-”

“God of war.” Hyungwon completes.

“Yeah, his unique core made him capable of controlling all the elements of the earth and he won. It is believed that in power Ares was only second to Zeus, the master of the universe. He killed everyone including Xero but his core was too powerful for his weak body. It was buzzing with too much power and his body burst, killing everyone within miles. Pieces of his cores were scattered all around the world.

It is said that those pieces changed the constitution of mortals and it’s how we developed cores. The surge you are feeling,” Hoseok points at the roots of the foreboding tree, “is said to be because of Aja and Ares’ core. Aja found a piece of core in the field, the only piece of Ares that he could find, and buried it here. He gave up his own life and Egan broke his core and buried it alongside every piece of Ares’ core across the world. He then ordered mortals to build a temple around them. This temple is one of them.”

“So that’s our origin story?” Hyungwon asks and glances at the threads. “Do ability-users come here to wish for their cores to become stronger?”

Hoseok cocks his head and trails his finger through Kihyun’s hair. “No, people pray to Zeus for that. Here people pray for core-bonds.”

“Core-bonds?” Hyungwon questions when he sees Kihyun look up at Hoseok in surprise.

“Yeah, soul core-bonds to be precise. Ares and Aja’s story is not only our origin story but also of love. Since Aja had a piece of Ares’ core in him, it transformed into a physical bond between them. Their cores had a pull between them. When together their cores became stronger. They could sense the distance through their bonds as well as if the other was in danger. They developed a deeper connection. Similarly to the core-bonds now. Do you know about core-bonds, Hyungwon?”

Hyungwon nods. Many ability-users who worked in high-risk jobs like the mafia or the police developed core-bonds with their partners so that they could work more efficiently but that was done as a professional partnership, Hyungwon had never thought or seen anyone make a core-bond because of love. But now that he thought about it, it made sense. Other ability users must do it all the time, almost like marriage. Wait a minute.

Hoseok puts a hand in his pocket and takes out something that he then hides in his fist. “It is believed that the core-bonds made here are strong and last forever. Afterward, couples exchange rings and tie a thread around the tree to get their blessings from Ares and Aja.” Hoseok looks at Kihyun. “Kihyunnie, when I met you years ago, I knew that you were the love of my life. I am so grateful that you gave me a chance even though you hate the world that I live in.”

Hoseok blushes, fiddling with his fingers and continues rambling. “I know that we are young, so I wouldn’t ask you to marry me. But I know that whatever happens, you’ll always stay in my life. I know that you worry about me a lot and even though I can’t leave this world because this is all I know, I can give you this.” He uncurls his hand to reveal the threads and the rings. “You wouldn’t have to worry about me being in danger because you’ll just feel it. If one of us ever gets lost or kidnapped, which frankly is quite probable, then our cores will lead us to each other. I know we are young and you can do so much better but I just wanted to put this option out there but, uh, no pressure. Core-bonds can be broken so it’s not permanent or anything anyway.” As Hoseok ramblings take a weird turn, Hyungwon hangs his head in second-hand embarrassment.

Not only did his brother drag him here while he proposed to his boyfriend but he also didn’t even try to look cool in front of him. Lame, his brother is so lame.

“YES!” Kihyun shouts as he tackles Hoseok and then they are kissing. Hyungwon keeps his head hung, his lips twitching into a wide smile.

***

“Ask your brother, what was he thinking while making a core-bond with a ten-year-old ticking bomb?”

Kihyun’s raised voice makes Hyungwon come back to the present and his eyes move to Ares’ chest that rose and dipped with his every breath. His ears still ring with the piercing scream that came out of that small body until Hyungwon had snapped out of his trance and used his power to shut down his core again. He looks at the strewn furniture around them, carefully avoiding Hoseok’s eyes.

“Kihyun, I am sure there’s an explanation. If you’ll just-”

As Ares had fainted and the tremors had halted abruptly, the first thing that Kihyun had done was look at Hyungwon in astonishment as if he was looking at a cryptid. It was the same expression that Hyungwon must have had when he had first witnessed Ares’ power.

Hyungwon had looked at Kihyun and then at Ares and then at Kihyun again. “What?”

He didn’t know why Kihyun was looking at him like that, not until Kihyun’s eyes had shifted and his brows raised in anger. “When the fuck did you do that? I fucking trusted you for once and left you alone with him and this is how you repay me?”

Hyungwon swallows. Kihyun’s words are still incomprehensible to him but he has an inkling. A revelation that had been under his subconsciousness, hiding till Kihyun had said: “Why would you make a core-bond with him? What were you thinking?”

_Core-bond._

That was it. Even though Hyungwon doesn’t have the answer to Kihyun’s question, one thing is evident that somehow somewhere during his short acquaintanceship with a conscious Ares he had managed to form a core-bond with him. He doesn’t know when he did it or how he did it considering he has no knowledge of even making one. He never thought he would need it and he had a habit of discarding everything that he didn’t need.

But the facts were these:

He had felt a pull towards Ares probably when his core had started moving.

When he had touched him and Ares’ core had picked up pace, Hyungwon's power had an unexplainable surge. A surge exponential enough that his invisible power had manifested itself in white sparks.

As he thinks of core-bonds and its effects, the dots start connecting. Even in his unconscious state, Ares’ core had managed to gather enough power on its own somehow. That was unexplainable but something that could be attributed to his amplifier. What Hyungwon knows for certain is his own effect on Ares. Under a trance, when he had touched Ares, his power had surged and so must have Ares’. His open and wide eyes could be attributed to his strong core, his sitting up could only be explained by the core-bond and its pull.

They both had strong cores. Ares who was on the verge of consciousness must have felt the same pull and while his body was too weak, he had just enough strength and consciousness to sit up, to gather what he needed and reach Hyungwon. A few more hours and he probably would have crawled to Hyungwon.

When he had touched his core, Ares must have felt the same snap as Hyungwon, like two puzzle pieces slotting together to form a complete picture. To Hyungwon, the feeling feels too abstract to really describe but it felt as if his core was missing a piece before that he never knew of, not until Ares’ connected with his and he suddenly felt whole and more powerful than ever.

He curls his hand. The surge has seemed to have faded away now that Ares core has been stopped again. Hyungwon takes a deep breath and looks at his fingers. The surge had been short, barely a few seconds but it had left a hunger in Hyungwon. For those few seconds, he had felt as if all he needed to do was look at a person to nullify their power.

The white sparks leave his imagination in disarray, the potential and the possibilities of his own power leaves him dizzy and hungry for more. He has unlocked parts of himself in more ways than one and the temptation to restart Ares’ core just to feel that surge again is there and only abated by Ares’ painful scream as he had come to consciousness and probably felt his own surge of power.

Hyungwon’s eyes travel from his own fingers to Ares’ face in his lap, he wipes his wet cheeks and reminds himself that Ares’ body is too small and weak to handle more power and whatever possibilities that Hyungwon’s own power has is not worth the death of a child that he has already sacrificed too much for.

“Hoseok is coming. Let’s see how you are going to talk yourself out of this one.” Kihyun had said then.

As Hoseok sits beside him after calming Kihyun and takes Ares’s body from his lap to his own, cradling his face and looking at him to spot any signs of injury, Hyungwon still doesn’t know how he is going to talk himself out of this one.

How do you defend yourself from a crime you have no knowledge of committing in the first place? It seems that the time has come when he has to resort to something that he considers the last option: truth.

“I don’t know how and when I bonded our cores,” he mumbles.

“I am not sure how that works, Hyungwon. You need two consenting and conscious parties to form a core-bond. You both need to have unconditional trust in each other and then you both had to reach out to bind your core threads. It’s a complicated process and many people have failed to do it. It doesn’t happen on its own, I am afraid.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Hyungwon mumbles, his eyes downcast.

Hoseok gives him a reassuring smile. “I believe you.”

Kihyun groans. “For fuck’s sak-”

“No, Kihyun. Why would he lie?”

“Because he is an evil idiot?”

Hyungwon glares at him, taking offense to the ‘idiot’ part.

“I don’t think he is lying.”

“Of course, you don’t. When do you ever?” Kihyun grumbles, his arms folded, hackles raised while discussing a topic that seems to have been the root of many arguments.

“Kihyun-ah. Core-bonds is only formed by people who have strong cores. Mature cores. Two children managing to bond even consciously is not heard of. While Hyungwon’s core is strong for his age, it’s still not mature. While,” Hoseok rubs his hand on Ares’s shaven head, his hair still the same length even after a month, possibly a side effect of his amplifier, “this kid here while may have a similarly strong but immature core, he does have an amplifier in him which complicates things.”

There’s so much that they don’t know about Ares. There are no books written about this. As far as humanity knows a person with an amplifier surgical embedded into him can’t survive. Hyungwon can’t exactly ring a scientist and reveal Ares’ identity to unscrew his every nut and bolt till he can either remove his amplifier or make sure that it doesn’t eat him from the inside.

Hyungwon takes a shaky breath and consciously empties his mind of any emotions till it’s only full of facts, conjectures, and tactics. “He called me an angel of death.”

Kihyun whips his head to direct his glare at Hyungwon instead of Hoseok.

Hoseok moves Ares gently from his lap and gets up from the bed to drape an arm around Kihyun’s waist. He gives Hyungwon a patient smile. Waiting, always waiting, for his brother to explain his actions to an extent that Hyungwon has learned to attribute some kind of reasoning even to his impulsiveness. Now this - unlike Ares - is familiar territory. “He was looking at me with this...hope and he called me an ‘Angel of death’. I didn’t understand at the moment but he reached out to me with something.”

“His core thread.” Hoseok supplies.

Hyungwon shrugs but takes it. “Perhaps. I don’t know what. I touched him to nullify his core which was slow but still moving. I had to touch him for some time since his core wasn’t shutting down for some reason. The war was waging around me and I was desperate, in case someone saw me and decided to kill him themselves. So I focused all my power into my fingers and then channeled it all to his core. But for some reason, his core seemed unmovable and I just wanted it to give. So I closed my eyes and focused and I saw this thread coming out of his core and I traced it to my own, just seeking some kind of connection. I really didn’t know what I was doing, I just wanted this kid to live. It was just a feeling and then there was this red blink behind the back of my eye?”

Hyungwon closes his eyes and tries to think of that memory that seems so familiar. “Like when you close your eyes while facing the sun?” Hoseok asks and Kihyun’s frown deepens.

Hyungwon nods. “Immediately, his core that seemed so immune to my power started responding and well, I shut it down. I didn’t feel anything.” Nothing like the absolute power he had felt right now. “At least, not until now.”

Hoseok opens his mouth but Kihyun interrupts him. “The effects could be delayed since his core was nullified. Now that his body is gaining strength, his core is resisting the hold of your power but simultaneously seeking out the connection to its twin core. And that’s how,” Kihyun narrows his eyes at unconscious Ares, “you managed to create this mess.”

Hyungwon raises his shoulders in a shrug, Now that he knows what’s happening he feels more in control. What’s done is done. For once, he looks at the positive side of it. Now that they are core-bonded somehow - because the universe loves to fuck Hyungwon over without his consent - at least he’ll be attuned to Ares.

If he is in danger, Hyungwon will be the first to know. Hyungwon wouldn’t have to wonder if he is coming to consciousness or not since the universe has taken it upon itself to make sure Hyungwon is committed to his job as Ares’ nanny and installed a GPS tracker in him. There’s no downside to it exc-

“The fuck you are smiling for?”

“Language, Kihyun!”

“No, Hoseok. You weren’t here. You didn’t see what I saw. Hyungwon, care to tell your brother about what happened?”

Hyungwon gets up from the bed and stretches his arms over his head, his back cracks and he lifts his knee to continue with the stretches. “Nothing happened. My power just increased a bit,” _a lot, a fuck lot_, “which is common when you are near your core...mate? Partner?”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Core twin. Don’t lie to me! I saw those sparks. Your eyes were glowing for fuck’s sake!”

Huh. That Hyungwon didn’t know. Were Ares’ eyes glowing too? Hyungwon can’t say since he was too busy getting his ears ripped out of his skull.

Hoseok looks at both of them. Kihyun who is clenching his fist and gritting his teeth looks fucking marvelous to Hyungwon’s absolute joy. Hyungwon lets himself smirk and Kihyun doesn’t disappoint as he immediately lunges for Hyungwon who breaks into laughter when Hoseok holds Kihyun back with just one arm. Not because Hoseok was strong but because Kihyun just needed his light touch to stop himself.

“Your brother will be the cause of this world imploding someday. Remember this, Hoseok.” Kihyun shrugs Hoseok’s arm off and promptly leaves the room, his steps heavy and dramatic. Hyungwon can never tell how someone as understanding and laidback as Hoseok fell in love with someone as sensitive and overdramatic as Kihyun. But, well, he will wait for the answer until Hoseok comes to his senses and dumps Kihyun.

“Hyungwon, this is no laughing matter,” Hoseok says, his eyes still stuck to the door and his tone worried.

Hyungwon raises a brow, cheeks still lifted. “I, frankly, don’t know what’s all this fuss is about. It’s just a core-bond. It will help me keep track of him if anything. We’ll break it once he is better.”

Hoseok shakes his head. “It’s not that simple. You have bonded yourself to - in Kihyun’s words - “a ticking time-bomb”. If something happens to him while bonded with you, you’ll suffer as well.”

“Nothing is going to happen to him until he’s my ward.”

“You can’t predict the future, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon smirks. “Sure I can. Nothing’s going to happen till I am protecting him. There. I made a prophecy.”

Hoseok looks at him with such pity that it makes Hyungwon skin crawl. “You don’t even know anything about core-bond.”

“I’ll read a book.” Hyungwon snaps, Hoseok’s worry getting on his nerves now.

Sensing his irritation, Hoseok raises his palms. “Fine. I won’t bug you,” Hyungwon raises a brow, knowing for a fact that Hoseok is lying, “for now.” Hoseok adds and Hyungwon huffs in disbelief. “But you need to know a few things. Read whatever book but there are some things that you need to know if you want me to allow this.”

“Allow this? This is already allowed, Hoseok. You can’t stop me.”

Hoseok folds his arms and just stares at Hyungwon. That’s the thing about Hoseok. Sometimes all he needs to do is stare at Hyungwon with a blank expression on his face and Hyungwon is forced to do his bidding. Hyungwon has tried resisting many times. Sometimes he even succeeded but then Hoseok released his most lethal weapon: emotional blackmail. So now Hyungwon has learned to do Hoseok’s bidding at the first turn itself.

“Fine. While you are at it, tell me about the bees and the birds as well, dear brother.”

You’d think that after dating Kihyun for so long, he would have rubbed a little on his brother but Hoseok doesn’t take the bait. He sits down on the bed and pats the place beside him. Hyungwon complies because unlike Kihyun’s impression of him, he isn’t a complete jackass.

“Core-bond are intricate things Hyungwon. They can be very tricky since they are so subjective. No core-bond resembles other, much like our cores they all have different blueprints.”

Hyungwon nods even though he already knew this even with his disinterest in this subject.

“With different blueprints comes different bonds. Generally, it takes two mature cores and two trusting individuals to consciously reach out with their threads and tie them together. The strength of the core-bond itself varies with our cores and the strength of our relationship. The more the two partners trust each other, the more their core connects. For example, in the beginning, Kihyun and I could sense each other’s direction but not the exact point. Now we can. We can pull each other to us. We can amplify each other’s core by transferring our energy through our thread.”

Even though Hyungwon doesn’t show it outwardly, with each passing sentence he realizes that his core-bond with Ares is abnormal. Hoseok makes it sound like it’s all conscious. That you have to be aware and take an active part.

In his case though, far from taking an active part, Hyungwon doesn’t even know how a core-bond is formed. He doubts that a child kept in a dungeon for years knows about it more than him. So, how did this happen? How did an unconscious kid manage to “transfer” so much power to him? Fuck that, how did Hyungwon himself transfer his power through their thread? Hyungwon’s control is better than that. How did he transfer his energy to Ares without even realizing it?

The things that were making sense a few moments ago are unraveling again and Hyungwon doesn’t like this feeling even one bit.

"Now although we haven’t tried it, it’s said that the people with really strong core-bonds can even transfer their consciousness through their core thread and control each other’s body."

This piques Hyungwon's interest. "Is that possible? Or just a theory?"

"It's possible and quite common, actually. Many people have done it. Most people can manage it for a second or so. But there have been cases where people have managed to control their partner’s body for minutes even from a distance. Usually, they are experienced people who have been bonded for over 10 years.” Hoseok pauses and taps his chin in thought. “Although, I remember once reading about this case where a wife managed to control her husband's body from the backseat when he suddenly fainted while driving. They were newly bonded. Her adrenaline rush probably helped as she couldn't do it again in a normal situation."

Hyungwon nods. In the back of his mind, he wants to try it out, just to see if he can do it. But Hoseok gives him a look which says that he knows exactly what Hyungwon's thinking and he is not happy with it. So Hyungwon doesn't bring this thought to the forefront of his mind but doesn't fool himself into thinking that he won't try it when he is alone with Ares.

His fingers twitch again with the phantom shock as he thinks of all the potential his connection with Ares has. It's awfully tempting to restart Ares' core and have that power again in his hands. It's the thought of making sure that come what may he wouldn't follow into his father's footsteps that deter him even more than the pain in Ares' eyes.

"Sharing power aside, core bond can also help in healing." Hyungwon perks up for a second with the thought of having his own healer and not needing to see Kihyun's displeasing mug again but Hoseok rolls his eyes and immediately snips his newly grown wings of hope. "Mental healing to be exact. You can transfer calmness and exude intimacy and love to help your partner relax. It's almost like a drug." The comparison is very interesting especially coming from his supposedly straight-laced brother. Hyungwon quirks a brow in curiosity at his brother who avoids Hyungwon's eyes as he continues. "But again it depends on the strength of your core and the nature of your relationship with your core twin."

Hyungwon nods in acknowledgment, a thoughtful expression on his face while mulling over everything that Hoseok regurgitated for Hyungwon.

"These are all the main points that I can think off the top of my head."

"It sounds great to me."

Hoseok’s nose crinkles and his face transforms into one of distraught. "No, Hyungwon. Core-bonds are intricate things. There's a reason why only few people bond. If your core-twin is sick, you'll feel sick too. If they are someone whose mental health isn't the greatest, it will affect yours too until you won't be able to tell if it's your own problem or your core twin’s."

Hoseok's hands clench subconsciously and then unclench again as he catches Hyungwon staring at them. He gives a self-deprecating laugh. "You'll read a book and it will tell you how it's all sunshine and rainbows if your cores and relationships are strong. But there's so much here, Hyungwon. For you, you are tying yourself to this little boy who will have a plethora of issues and rightfully so."

Hyungwon's eyes follow Hoseok's gaze and his eyes travel to Ares' skinny body. It roams over his hollow cheeks and spindly arms. His flesh like a thin plastic sheet wrapped tightly around his small skeleton. Hyungwon takes a deep breath as he is once again forced to confront the depravity of humanity.

"His physical health won't be the best, he is traumatized so it's safe to say he won't be a paragon of healthy mental health anytime soon either. This is going to affect you, Hyungwon. Break it up. This strange child is not worth it."

Hyungwon looks up at Hoseok in surprise. His brother who has no qualms about weeping and helping those who are less unfortunate than him and had tried his best to instill the same quality in Hyungwon just told him to give up because “this strange child isn't worth it”. This is completely out-of-character for someone like Hoseok who is compassionate to a fault.

It's bizarre and goes against everything that Hyungwon knows about his brother. He looks at Hoseok's stoic face and in an instant, he can tell that there's something more to this. Hoseok's blank expression screams that he is hiding something that he doesn't want Hyungwon to see. Hyungwon thinks and shoots a dart in the dark.

"You don't trust me with him, do you?"

Hoseok’s jaw tics and that's all Hyungwon needs to confirm his suspicion. He gets up from the bed angrily even as Hoseok hands swipe at him to grab his hand.

He points a finger at Hoseok. "That's great. My own brother doesn't trust me."

Hoseok rises too, his tone desperate. "That's not it, Hyungwon. It's just that it's a huge responsibilit-"

"And I am too weak for that?"

Hoseok takes a step forward but Hyungwon isn't ready to have any of it so he takes a step back and folds his arms over his chest defensively.

"Hyungwon, there's a reason that nature has set an age for these core bonds. Two children aren't ready to carry this burden. You will both end up affecting each other negatively. I am looking out for both of you here."

"By that logic, 'nature'," Hyungwon begins in a mocking tone, "has decided that we both are ready for a bond since we are fucking bonded without any conscious decision of our own!"

Hoseok pinches the bridge of his nose. "Listen to me for once in your life, will you? It's not that simple, Hyungwon. You both aren't ready."

"You are afraid that I am going to use him to increase my power, aren't you?" Hyungwon finally lets out the thought that had been nagging at him from the beginning. He knows he is projecting his own fears onto Hoseok but the way Hoseok turns his face away and doesn't protest lets him know that he isn't the only one afraid.

"You are just 14, Hyungwon. And whatever you say, you are still quite young. I know how it feels to have a huge source of power just lying around. I know you are tempted." Hyungwon shakes his head half-heartedly but Hoseok just gives him a look. "I know you are. Even I would be. The temptation is natural. But it's your restraint that will dictate what kind of person you are." Hoseok pats him on the shoulder. "What kind of person you want to be."

Hyungwon nods, always receptive of his brother's advice even as unsolicited it is at times. "I won't be tempted, Hoseokkie."

Hoseok keeps his hands on his shoulder and stares at his face, assessing and analyzing. Hyungwon doesn't back away from Hoseok's stare. He keeps his walls down and expression open. Satisfied, Hoseok nods. "I trust you. But I want you to promise me that if you ever felt affected by this bond or if Ares felt affected by this, you'll tell me."

Hyungwon nods his head without any hesitation. "I promise."

Hoseok lets his hand drop after patting him once again. "I am trusting you with this child's life as your mother trusted me with yours. Don't disappoint me." Hyungwon clenches his fist, a fierce determination in his eyes. "I'll take care of him as you did for me. You can trust me."

Hyungwon repeats the last sentence to himself as Hoseok rubs his back.

***

A month later, Hyungwon feels the pull again but this time around, they are prepared. Hyungwon grits his teeth but doesn't move from his bed. He opens his phone and reads Hoseok's text again, updating him.  
Kihyun observes Ares for a week. The first day sees him sitting up on his own, his eyes wide and pupils blown much like the first time. But as the day pass, Ares’s body starts vibrating.

It starts building up just as Hyungwon himself feels the pull increasing until even walking feels like swimming against a strong current with a bag of bricks tied at his waist. A week later, he gets a text from Hoseok asking him to come to kihyun's place as soon as he can.

Hyungwon heaves a heavy breath and tells the other junior, Hyunwoo, guarding with him that he is going to see a doctor since he isn't feeling well. It's a believable lie as the prompt nod and sigh of relief that comes from Hyunwoo tells him. He gives Hyungwon a reassuring smile. "Go home after visiting the doctor."

Hyungwon gives a pained smile back. "Yeah. I might just do."

When he reaches Kihyun's place, his body feels like it's disintegrating. His bones weigh just as heavy as the earth itself as he stumbles through the door and Hoseok catches him. He barely manages to tell Hoseok that he couldn't check if someone was following him. Hoseok gives an understanding nod, his eyes concerned.

He enters Ares' room and he feels conflicted. On the one end, his body thrums with the anticipated relief and power, on the other end, he feels scared about what's to come.

When he steps closer to the bed, Hyungwon feels like he is standing in front of a black hole, ready to be sucked into another dimension. In front of him, Ares is lying on the bed and his whole body is convulsing. Flopping like a fish out of water, it looks like he is having a seizure. He is tied to the bed with a makeshift restraint made out of cloth, the only thing keeping him on the bed as he writhes and even almost jumps. His wide empty eyes boring into nothing.

As Hyungwon comes near him he stops convulsing and instead starts shaking. Vibrating with anticipation like Hyungwon.

The predictability and the uncertainty, repulsion and attraction, the white spark and the red glow everything mashes together as Hyungwon touches Ares' core with a finger under Kihyun's careful watch.

He feels Ares' core turning, picking up pace. His hand uncurls on its own and he puts his whole hand on Ares’s core which Kihyun promptly snatches away.

But the deed has been done, again under a trance, he has transferred his power to Ares. His own body buzzes with the newly gained power. He swallows down the urge to use it. Test it. He reminds himself that it's not his power and it hasn't been earned. Getting used to it, and looking forward to it is the last thing he needs right now.

The hope that this time would be better comes crashing down as the floor that had stayed still starts quaking. The bed itself starts shaking, awareness comes to Ares' eyes. Without missing a beat, he starts screaming in pain. Kihyun's eyes widen while the hand holding Hyungwon's wrist starts trembling. Hyungwon follows his gaze to notice the crack forming in the walls.

Ares throws his arm in a wide gesture and Kihyun goes flying away. Hyungwon's eyes lock with Ares. They are different from before but it doesn't take him much time to realize that he has seen these eyes before. It's the same eyes that Ares had when he was killing mercilessly in the field. He is not witnessing the innocent Ares. It's Ares, the God of war now.

From the corner of his eyes, he notices Hoseok shouting and moving towards Kihyun whose eyes are shut and jaw clenched in pain. His distraction for a second is all that this monstrous child needs as Hyungwon's body jerks towards him as if someone pulled him by a rope tied to his legs.

The tug feels different. He wasn’t pulled in by gravity but rather his legs had moved on their own. Hyungwon's eyes widen with the realization that Ares just controlled his body. Ares gets up and standing on the bed he is taller than Hyungwon. He puts a small hand on Hyungwon's core. Scared, Hyungwon tries to struggle but his body refuses to move and Hyungwon’s doubt and nightmare come true.

Hyungwon looks down and realizes that his core is glowing white. Ares screams recede into sobbing whimpers, tears flowing from his eyes as he clutches Hyungwon's shirt in his hand. Hyungwon feels the increase in power as the white sparks coming from his fingers become more bright. The feeling is followed by the realization that Ares isn't taking from him but instead giving to him.

He is transferring back the power that Hyungwon had given him subconsciously and was currently making him shout in pain. Hyungwon slumps and looks at him in awe. What is this kid? Even the amplifier doesn't explain the unremarkable control of his powers.

The crack on the wall starts widening and the floor starts shaking even more than before which makes Hyungwon snap out of his trance. His body refuses to move, so he focuses on his mind. The first lesson that Hyungwon was taught to control his power was to visualize threads coming from his core to his fingers. He recalls the lesson and visualizes a thread coming from his core attached to Ares’ core. Nothing happens for a moment. He focuses until the world fades and the universe is nothing except the thread connecting his and Ares core. He feels a lurch and sees the imaginary core thread glowing in his mind.

For a second, he thinks of untying it and breaking the core-bond but then stops himself. Done from one side, breaking a core bond can only affect both of them negatively, not to mention their minds are far from a calm state right now. Anyway, he won't be scared so easily.

Not letting himself celebrate just yet, he moves at the same pace to visualize the threads coming out of Ares' core, spread around in a crisscrossing but never intersecting mass of threads leading to every organ and limb. Once visible, he imagines jerking the thread connected to his brain. Ares' grasp on Hyungwon's doesn't change as Hyungwon stays there immobile so he tries again and again until Ares' thread finally reacts to his not so gentle administrations. He faints and his body plops down on the bed.

Hyungwon retreats carefully from the threads, making sure that Ares’ core doesn't stop because he'll be fucked before going through his again. He stops focusing on a point and the awareness of his surroundings rush in and the threads retreat back to his mind.

Taking a shaky breath, he looks up to find Hoseok and Kihyun looking at him in shock. Hoseok's arm is wrapped around Kihyun's shoulder and the other around his waist. Kihyun is slightly bent clutching his front rib, bleeding from a cut on his cheek. He blinks stupidly at Hyungwon. "Did you just control his body?"

Hyungwon realizes the scale of what he just did, and just as dumbfounded as the others, he nods. "Yeah but... so did he."

**Present**

“Go away, brat.”

After dropping Minhyuk off, Hyungwon had driven around for a while just absorbing what Jooheon had said. But even in repetitions and chewy bites, Hyungwon finds himself incapable of digesting the universe-defying entity that Jooheon is. He had reached home late and had almost passed out on his bed. In conclusion, his mind isn’t ready to deal with the bullshit that is Minhyuk’s wake up calls.

“That’s no way to talk to your almost brother-in-law.”

Hyungwon jerks awake after listening to Kihyun’s voice. His eyes open and land on a smirking Kihyun. He sighs dramatically and closes his eyes again.

“I almost prefer Minhyuk dumping ice-cold water on me and then parading me naked in the town than see your face in the morning.”

Kihyun snorts. “Considering that Minhyuk made a point of leaving after meeting Hoseok downstairs even when Hoseok asked him to wake you up before he drove him to the college, I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon.”

Hyungwon opens his eyes again. Bleary-eyed, he just looks vaguely in the direction of Kihyun, the ever-annoying curse attached to Hoseok’s existence and a harbinger of bad news. He shuffles and sits up, careful to keep himself covered with the blankets.

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “I’ve literally seen you in diapers. What are you trying to prove here?”

“That you are a creep who never forgoes the chance to mention that he has seen me in diapers?”

Without waiting, Kihyun flicks him on the head. Between his brother and his almost brother-in-law, it’s almost a miracle how Hyungwon manages to live his life without any bodily harm.

Kihyun folds his arms. “When were you going to grace me with your ugly presence?”

Hyungwon stares at him blankly. “Ugly? What’s that? A dish of some kind? Pardon me as I am not really familiar with the word.”

Kihyun nods in understanding. “Illiteracy.” He states and Hyungwon rubs his forehead to quell the oncoming headache. “That’s what happens when you drop out of school because you think that you are the shit and your brother doesn’t listen to his boyfriend and doesn’t force you back to school.”

Hyungwon gives him a mocking smile. “Yeah? In case you wondered why I didn’t grace you with my presence sooner, there’s your answer right there.”

Kihyun scoffs. “I just came here to ask you what did you do to Minhyuk to make him so annoyed when for the past few days, he was literally skipping and twittering, “Sir said this” “Sir did that” at every innocent passerby.”

Hyungwon swallows and shrugs his shoulders. “Nothing.”

“You did something. I know it. So spill it.”

“Feel free to tell me if I am missing something here but I don’t remember being obligated to answer your questions, dear almost brother-in-law. ‘Almost’ being the keyword here.” Now Hyungwon isn’t one to meddle in other people’s business but if Kihyun has taken it upon himself to intrude into his business then he is well within his rights to poke a little as well.

Kihyun’s chin scrunches and his lips curl back. “Hoseok is going to propose to me so this little hope that you have of getting rid of me is futile.” Kihyun sneers but his defensive tone informs Hyungwon that Hoseok not proposing to Kihyun even after dating for so long is a sensitive topic for Kihyun. “I know a sulky Minhyuk when I see one. He is pouting the same way as he did when he was 16 and his crush rejected him.”

Hyungwon scoots a little to give the gremlin some space to sit, Kihyun raises a brow slightly and stays where he is standing. Hyungwon sighs. “We went to a club and flirted a little.” Kihyun’s jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything. “He thought things were going somewhere but I backtracked. That’s all.”

Kihyun pinches the bridge of his nose and clenches his eyes shut as if he’s denying the reality and honestly if it works Hyungwon will try it too.

“Fuck, no. Not on my watch. Minhyuk is going to have nothing to do with you or your fucked up mafia family.”

Hyungwon narrows his eyes, a little miffed by Kihyun’s rejection of his non-existent potential as Minhyuk’s boyfriend. “That didn’t even take you a second, did it? First of all, I didn’t say that I am going to date him. Secondly, Minhyuk and you are already part of this ‘fucked up mafia family’. Lastly, who the fuck are you to control who Minhyuk dates or doesn’t?”

“I am his legal guardian, that’s who I am. He is more attached to me than you.”

“You are just his legal guardian on paper. It’s Hoseok who has raised him and who he is attached to the most. The boy literally has Hoseok’s surname, Yoo Kihyun, so think again.”

Kihyun flounders for a retort. Hyungwon smirks in victory but then Kihyun decides to irk Hyungwon even more. “That’s exactly what makes this whole thing even weirder. He calls Hoseok ‘brother’ and you are Hoseok’s brother. This is weird. You can’t date him.”

“No, it isn’t,” Hyungwon huffs, a little miffed.

Last night, he had outlined all the reasons in his head on why - even though it was tempting - he couldn’t have any kind of relationship with Minhyuk that crossed the platonic line that had blurred in the club. But now that Kihyun is rejecting him for Minhyuk - even though he has no right to, might Hyungwon add - he feels the urge to prove Kihyun wrong and establish him as the most deserving potential suitor for Minhyuk even though he has no intention of any suiting.

“It isn’t weird, you weirdo. It’s literally the same story as you and Hoseok. Meeting as children and then not seeing each other for years and then meeting each other in a gay bar after years but instead of banging like hormonal idiots, Minhyuk and I practiced restraint.”

“I am sorry but I don’t remember Hoseok raising me for two years before abandoning me or me being Hoseok’s brother’s brother, you little shit.” Kihyun spits.

Hyungwon’s eyebrow twitches at the word “abandoning”.

Now, alright. Perhaps, their stories are a little different but that’s just details. If Hyungwon wanted to pursue Minhyuk, there is nothing wrong with that regardless of whatever Kihyun, Minhyuk’s legal guardian, thinks. Frankly, Hyungwon doesn’t care because Kihyun’s hot-headed bloated brain doesn’t know shit about shit.

“Whatever,” Hyungwon says and dives into his blanket again, annoyed. A typical reaction to his meeting with Kihyun.

Hyungwon would take thousand buzzing flies near his ears right now over Kihyun but alas, Kihyun doesn’t burst into a thousand flies and stays as a Kihyun-shaped bloat on humanity, and in true Kihyun fashion rips the blanket away from him.

“If you don’t want to date him then why are you annoyed by my disapproval, huh?”

Hyungwon huffs. “I can not want to date him simultaneously while being annoyed by your whole existence.”

Kihyun gives him a knowing look. “You sound defensive, you know.” Sometimes the only thing that keeps Hyungwon from snapping Kihyun in half is the thought that Hoseok might cry.

“Fine, you can date him. He’ll realize that he deserves better and then dump your pathetic ass soon anyway.” Hyungwon gives a mocking laugh but Kihyun continues being insufferable with his knowing smile. “Also, make sure Hoseok doesn’t know.”

“There’s nothing to know about, Christ!”

Kihyun just nods his head, disbelief clear in his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure.”

“God, I hate you.”

“Same. Now when are you coming to dinner at my place?”

Hyungwon turns his face to hide a smile. “Whenever. I am busy.”

***

Minhyuk avoids him for two days. Hyungwon, who had grown used to be woken up by him over the past two weeks, feels his absence acutely. Changkyun gives him knowing looks when he comes to give his brief. Hyungwon tactfully avoids him by shutting the door in his face and asking him to email the brief instead.

Changkyun transforms into a cat and whimpers pathetically but Hyungwon knows better now. He knows that Minhyuk’s place is a demon’s lair and the three children of satan - Minhyuk, Changkyun and Jooheon - will sell Hyungwon’s soul to himself for a profit if Hyungwon let them have their way. Changkyun bears his claws, literally, and leaves after being viciously scratching the door.

Honestly, he is over Minhyuk and his unwarranted radio silence, Hyungwon tells himself as he stabs the bread with his fork. Hyungwon knows himself. He knows that he is attracted to Minhyuk in a pure carnal sense, it’s not his stellar personality and annoying ways that have Hyungwon hooked, frankly that’s something that he could very much do without.

It’s the way that the brat carries himself, fearlessness topped with affected cockiness. That one night at the club, that short snippet of time during which their bodies were barely apart and the air between them was so charged that Hyungwon could feel the hair on his back rising haunts him.

Minhyuk’s face under the purple glow, that delicate swell of lips that are always jutted out, those sharp hips that had moved so confidently, so obscenely, those all-knowing eyes. The image haunts him and Hyungwon knows that all he needs is a new infatuation to push Minhyuk away from his mind.

But heading a mafia family that’s just a fledgling in everything but its name doesn’t exactly give you many opportunities to flirt your way into people’s mind and bed if you want to keep your body and dick intact. He has played this game enough to know that Minhyuk is a passing interest but God, that doesn’t make bearing his silence any easier.

Hyungwon puts his bowl down forcefully, the soup splashing out a little. Hoseok stares at him in confusion.

“Are you alright?”

“Just peachy.” Hyungwon gives him a broad smile.

Hoseok grimaces. “What’s going on?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

Hoseok nods, unconvinced but willing to give Hyungwon some space. After a moment, Hyungwon decides to take that space, unzip his pants and piss all over it. “Who does Minhyuk think he is?”

Startled, Hoseok looks at him with wide eyes, a little taken aback by the sudden admission and sharp tone. “I- What?” he questions, head bent over his bowl and the spoon still hovering in front of his lips.

Hyungwon taps his finger on the table, controlling his voice. “Who does Minhyuk think he is?”

Hoseok puts his spoon down and puts his hands on the table. “Did something happen?”

Hyungwon shrugs. “No, I am just wondering who he think he is. First, he had the audacity to wake me up every morning with his shenanigans. Now that I have started relying on him as my alarm clock, he has the audacity to stop waking me up?”

Hoseok’s lips twitch and Hyungwon narrows his eyes at him. “Just say you want to meet him.”

Hyungwon scoffs. “He wishes. I am just,” he lifts his hand and looks at his nails like they are the most fascinating thing after space and deep sea, “wondering about the nature of his existence. Since he is too dumb, I am having his existential crisis_ for him_.”

Hoseok - just as fearless as his kid, even in front of Hyungwon with a fork - gives him a broad smile. “Uh-huh. If you say so.”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “If he thinks that I am going to beg him to talk to me any time soon, he can wait till my funeral.”

Hoseok lifts his face and glares at him.

“Calm down. My funeral at an old age after living a happy and healthy life.”

Hoseok blows on his soup before gulping it down. “Hmm.”

***

“Ouch. Motherfu-”

Hyungwon wakes up from his sleep and the first thing that he sees is Minhyuk poking his chest with a - is that a? Yup - fucking mop.

Sluggish but fired-up, Hyungwon throws the covers away and sits up with a snarl. Minhyuk, blank-faced, looks at him like a vapid abstract painting.

“The fuck you think you are doing?” Hyungwon questions, his voice nasal and deep from sleep, concealing his biting tone.

Minhyuk widens his eyes theatrically. “Waking you up by not touching you?”

Hyungwon pinches the bridge of his nose, beaten at his own game by a 21-something. He clenches his eyes shut and opens them to be welcomed by Minhyuk’s deliberate blank face again.

“Brother said that you asked for me.”

Someday Hyungwon is going to kill Hoseok and keep him in his thoughts and prayers.

“No, I didn’t. Your brother is a massive liar.”

Minhyuk folds his arms over his chest, his blank face evaporating to leave quick offense behind. “My brother doesn’t lie, unlike some people I know.” He stares at Hyungwon meaningfully and okay, subtle, kid.

“Whatever. I didn’t ask for you, I had just merely asked about you. Language can be tricky, all these semantics and syntax can be confusing for people like your brother.”

Minhyuk scoffs. “My brother is smarter than you in everything and to top that, he isn’t an asshole.”

Hyungwon gives a delighted laugh. “Don’t you just love it when people come to your room and insult you first thing in the morning? Boy, does it makes my day,” he chirps while clapping his hand once.

“I’ll leave you to your perfect mornings then,” Minhyuk mutters, his stare icy. He turns and Hyungwon cursed by his impulsivity grabs his wrist. Minhyuk turns, his lips pursed but there’s a glint in his eyes that urges Hyungwon to talk to him. Slave to his new infatuation, Hyungwon lets himself be caught in those eyes. A beat passes and Minhyuk snatches his arm away.

He throws his hands in frustration. “This is it!” He points at Hyungwon with his finger, his tone accusatory. “You look at me like this and then you make me feel like I was stupid for thinking that this,” He gestures between them, “is leading up to something.” He ends his declaration with a stomp. “Make it make sense!”

_Make it make sense._

As Hyungwon looks at Minhyuk’s burning eyes, flaring nostrils, his clenched jaw, he feels a bit mesmerized.

_Make it make sense._

He repeats it to himself.

“You are still looking at me like that, sir.” Minhyuk’s shoulders slump and he stuffs his hands into his hoodie, a trademark of every person in uni.

“How do I look at you, Minhyuk?” Hyungwon asks Minhyuk with a quizzical smile, perfectly aware of the connotations of his every word, touch and stare.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I think I am imagining it but sometimes I can feel your stare physically touching me and it feels like..” Minhyuk bites his lips in concentration, trying to claw the words out of his brain that will justify the feelings that are too vague, too abstract, too ambiguous.

Hyungwon eyes move to his lips and then stray away. Some three moons ago, he would’ve taunted Minhyuk into leaving his room and then discarded this attraction between them as passing and benign. But now that Hyungwon has shared fleeting touches and whispered flirtations with Minhyuk, it’s hard to shake this magnetic pull between them that will only go away once they close the distance that Hyungwon has resolutely pushed between them.

Minhyuk stares into his eyes, into his soul and Hyungwon stares back at him, too caught up in all of him to blink his intentions away.

Minhyuk swallows, his lips part and Hyungwon turns his face away even though it’s too late now. “It feels like there’s something here? Like if I kiss you, you’ll kiss me back?” Minhyuk whispers, staring at Hyungwon, his tone questioning and demanding at once.

Hyungwon can feel the tension between them, the pull of attraction getting stronger. Maybe it’s because he had been dreaming of their past since the first night he came back here but the pull reminds him of another force between them that is much more physical and lethal.

In another timeline, Minhyuk and Hyungwon meet in a club, they fuck and then maybe Hyungwon takes him out for a coffee the next morning and they fight over who’ll pay. But in this timeline, Hyungwon met Minhyuk when Hyungwon was just 14 and they core-bonded and then Hyungwon realized that the apple never falls far from the tree.

If Minhyuk knew what Hyungwon does, what Hoseok knows and pities him for, what Kihyun knows and loathes him for, then he wouldn’t have stood here in front of Hyungwon demanding answers to questions that Hyungwon isn’t even allowed to mention.

Hyungwon takes a deep breath and steels his heart. It’s better to break a heart in a moment then to drag it to eternity until there’s nothing left to break. Minhyuk is young, he is infatuated with Hyungwon just as Hyungwon is with Minhyuk. They haven’t kissed each other as lovers do, they haven’t lied down in a park and looked at the stars, they haven’t fought and then made up in a flurry of kisses.

They haven’t loved yet.

Hyungwon swallows his what-ifs and manifests the distance between them into reality. “I genuinely have no idea what you are talking about.”

Minhyuk flinches and takes a shaky step back like he realizes that he is standing on the edge of a cliff, one wrong step, one fumble, one unfated twist of an ankle and he’ll become one with the earth.

Hyungwon knows that as cocky and forward as Minhyuk had tried to be that one night, he is still unsure, still finding his footing when it comes to love. He knows that Minhyuk had put his heart in Hyungwon’s hand tentatively, and now he has to clench his fist and crush it until every thought of Hyungwon is compressed, put into a box with a sealed lock on it and then placed in a corner with cobwebs that Minhyuk never visits.

“But We- You danced with me. You touched me.”

Hyungwon gives a callous shrug and feels Minhyuk’s heart cracking in his fist. “You wanted to dance so I danced with you. I don’t know what your misguided little mind read there,” Hyungwon arches a brow, needlessly cruel, taunting him, “but I am not attracted to you. At all.”

Minhyuk is all bark and painful bites. “Bullshit. You don’t look at someone who you aren’t attracted to like you do at me.” He spits.

Hyungwon gives a condescending laugh and gets up from his bed to stand right in front of Minhyuk who tilts his head slightly to look Hyungwon in the eye. Oh, kid, don’t do that. You are making this so much worse for yourself. “Don’t project your thoughts onto me, kid.”

“I am not projecting anything. I am just calling a spade a spade.” Minhyuk’s seethes through gritted teeth.

“Really?” Hyungwon lilts, perfectly aware of how grating he can be. He takes a step forward until he is in Minhyuk’s space and raises his chin with his index finger and whispers, “If you want to fuck, I’ll close my eyes and give it a shot for your sake. But that’s just because I am a charitable guy.”

“You are lying,” Minhyuk chokes.

Hyungwon cocks his head, his tone cloying. “Now an impotent virgin would tell me how I feel?”

Minhyuk swats his hand away and doesn’t give Hyungwon the luxury to look at him anymore as he runs away from the man who took his deepest insecurity, sharpened its edge into something deadly and then stabbed him with it during his most vulnerable confession.

Hyungwon looks at his hand and imagines it bleeding with all the shards of Minhyuk’s broken heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup
> 
> I would like to thank my newly-appointed and very efficient beta-reader [Wallflower511](%E2%80%9Carchiveofourown.org/users/Wallflower511%E2%80%9D). The most memorable incident I can recall was them highlighting the words "impotent virgin" and then commenting "Fuck You" and then messaging me "Fuck you" "I hope no one kills you in your sleep" "I'd kill your Hyungwon if he was real".  
Anyway, please feel free to curse or praise my Hyungwon in the comments or Twittah! or Curious Cat! . Also, really interested if someone can predict why Hyungwon left.  
Also, I have another (completed!) Hyunghyuk fic which is a mess comma-wise (and I'll edit it when I'll write its sequel) but it's alright: Two Comedians Walk into a Bar  
See ya soon!


	6. Plato or Aristotle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been over two months and this is my longest chapter. And you know the best part? It's a filler chapter so your wait is not worth it at all. 
> 
> Some mafia lingo used: Made man: "In the American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the mafia...."  
Omerta: "Mafia code of silence about criminal activity and a refusal to give evidence to the police." 
> 
> That being said: ONWARDS!

10 years ago

“I just wish he wouldn’t have cracked the wal- Fuck!” Kihyun’s monologue on walls and security deposits halts as he arches his back and contorts his arm to reach the wounds on his back.

Hyungwon, lying on the couch in the living room, smirks openly behind his book.

Like the threads wrapped around the bodhi tree that Hyungwon saw years ago, the cover of the book is a bright red, its weight heavy enough to smack people to death, as Kihyun had demonstrated when he had unceremoniously dropped it on his lap.

The title says 'Unlock Your Core-Bonds' and Hyungwon wants to unlock his whole being until he is nothing but manure fertilizing the trees just so he wouldn't have to read this boring thick book.

He yawns as the words drift in front of him like a leaf floating in the river, leaving its fate to the direction of the current. He reads sentences but soon the words separate and his mind stops interpreting them as something coherent. Now, they are just some meaningless silly sounds inside his head.

His eyelids droop to half-mast, his body a withered boat ready to sink into the embrace of the ocean. In an effort to not doze off, his eyes stray towards Kihyun who is displaying his flexibility - or the lack of it - while healing himself as Hoseok is fluttering around him in worry.

Somehow in this whole saga of destruction and revelations, Kihyun is the only one who got hurt physically and financially. Now Hyungwon isn’t superstitious by any means but perhaps, there’s something here that the universe wants to tell him.

“I can see you smiling, you ungrateful little brat,” Kihyun mutters, jaw clenched in pain, as his right arm stretches even further down his back.

Hyungwon’s smirk widens into a grin as he puts down his book, fully giving away his facade.

"Kihyun-ah, don't cry because it’s over, smile because it happened." He lilts, playful and obnoxious.

“Hyungwon!” Hoseok snaps and his rare annoyance makes Hyungwon straighten-up.

“Kihyun has no stake in this situation yet he is suffering the most. You're not a child anymore. The least you could do is pretend to care for him when he is going out of his way to help us.”

Kihyun whips his head towards Hoseok, eyes wide with surprise, startled by the anger in his voice.

Hyungwon wants to say that he’ll pay off his security deposit and his injuries aren’t _that bad_ but Hoseok looks like he is ready to whip out Egan and then hang Hyungwon upside down from her trunk until he has learned some manners.

Now Hyungwon's heart isn't completely frozen. He does know that Kihyun is in no way obligated to help him. He is taking a big risk to keep this highly-targeted child that Hyungwon picked up on a whim in his place.

He is not only running the risk of getting killed by the child he is trying to save but also by the other families if they ever figured out Ares’ existence and his connection with him.

It's just that..Kihyun has to know that Hyungwon is grateful. Does he have to show it too? That's not how they roll. Hoseok knows this and yet he is being confronted.

Hyungwon hangs his head, a little sulky, his ego hurt by his brother calling him out like this. “I am sorry, Kihyun. And thank you so much for your help.”

Kihyun waves his hand, just as uncomfortable as him when it comes to outspoken affection between them.

Hoseok gives Hyungwon a small smile, and Hyungwon exhales in relief.

The relief is short-lived though as he feels a tug on his core-bond thread. He takes a deep breath, bracing himself for what’s next.

“He is awake.”

***

“Sir?” Ares asks, his voice small and unsure as he looks at Hoseok and then him. It’s the first time that Hyungwon has heard that soft voice after almost two months since they first clashed.

The porcelain doll looks human as his eyes give away his fear.

It’s different.

Ares isn’t the guy talking to his killer, his savior in the most fucked up way. He is talking to another group of men who have dragged him to another place to possibly torture him in another way.

His voice is not loud and accepting as it was in the battlefield. It’s quiet, a whisper. This skeleton in the closet of humanity speaks as if he is whispering his prayers to no one. There’s no effort, no strain on his vocal cords, he speaks as if he knows that it’s better to stay unheard.

Before his words can disperse like dandelion seeds and get lost to the wind, Hyungwon snatches it.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“My name?” Ares glances at Hyungwon as though he has been put on a pedestal and asked to philosophize about the meaning of life.

“Yes, your name,” Hyungwon says sweetly, exuding patience under the watchful eye of his brother. He wants to add ‘the thing that people call you by’ but he isn’t sure if he’ll be able to handle the answer to that question.

“Ares?” the kid offers, curling into himself, too afraid of giving the wrong answer.

Hoseok puts his hand on Ares’ head to soothe him but Ares flinches, scared, and scurries into Hyungwon who is sitting on his other side, a familiar stranger, his angel of death.

Hoseok retracts his hand, the fear of this child acting like a magnetic force, repelling him.

Hyungwon gives Hoseok a reassuring smile and pats Ares’ head for him. Ares presses his face against Hyungwon’s forearm until all Hyungwon can see is his head, his ginger hair still looking like they were freshly shaved, stunted forever in their growth just like this child.

Hyungwon rubs his back, imitating how Hoseok soothed him when he was the same age as him. Ares whimpers, the wetness of his tears and snot seeps through Hyungwon’s shirt.

Hyungwon looks up at Hoseok who has his fists clenched, barely holding himself back from engulfing Ares in his embrace until their moment becomes less painful and more cathartic.

Kihyun enters the room with a tray. His steps are unsure when he sees Hyungwon as the one soothing the child and Hoseok standing on the side, his eyes teary.

He sets the tray down on the bed and then holds Hoseok just the way Hyungwon is holding Ares, his grip gentle and calming.

Hyungwon draws back and grabs Ares' face to stop him when he immediately tries to squish his face against Hyungwon's arm again.

“Are you hungry, kid?” he asks gently, mindful of scaring the meek but feral kitten away.

Ares just looks at him like he can make out the sound of Hyungwon’s words but can’t connect them to their meaning. As if no one has ever asked him that so he isn’t sure how to answer it.

Hyungwon gives him a smile full of pity and drags the tray towards him, his arm wrapped around Ares’ small shoulders.

He dips the wooden spoon in the soup and then blows on it before putting it in front of Ares’ mouth, making his decision for him. Ares looks at the soup and then his eyes flit away towards Hoseok and Kihyun staring at him in pity. The spoon stays motionless and Ares’ eyes move down and he gives no indication of eating.

Hyungwon drops the spoon in the soup. “You don’t have to worry. That’s my brother and his boyfriend. They are not going to hurt you, okay?”

Ares nods his head shakily but Hyungwon can tell it’s more for his benefit than Ares actually believing him.

He sighs and glances at their spectators. “Could you both wait outside?”

Kihyun opens his mouth to protest but Hoseok just nods and starts walking out, Kihyun looks at his retreating back in confusion and follows him.

Hyungwon picks up the spoon again and stirs the soup. “What’s your happiest memory, Ares?”

Ares looks clueless but now that the strange men aren’t here, there’s less fear in his gaze and more curiosity.

Hyungwon doesn’t expect him to answer, he had just asked the question out loud to fill the silence but Ares is a curious wonder, defying Hyungwon’s expectations at every turn.

“Drawing.”

Hyungwon looks up from the tiny whirlpool made by his aggressive stirring in surprise. “Drawing? Was it before the-,” He licks his lips, looking for something less hurtful, not sure if it’s for Ares’ benefit or his, “before the bad men caught you?”

Ares gives him a meek nod, his eyes traveling from Hyungwon’s eyes to his lips to his nose, cataloging his every feature.

It takes a lot of self-control to not stop Ares from observing him. Hyungwon’s whole job relies on letting people see what he wants them to see, so to be dissected at such proximity by a child, especially with his facade down, makes Hyungwon’s skin prickle.

“Did you ever play with marbles?” Hyungwon puts the spoon in front of Ares, who opens his mouth and takes a sip in lieu of the answer.

He looks at Hyungwon with wide eyes as though asking if he did what Hyungwon wanted. Hyungwon feels a slight crack in his heart even as he gives Ares an encouraging smile. Ares rest assured now takes a huge sip.

Hyungwon pats his head and fills the spoon again. “Did you have any friends before the bad men took you?”

Ares doesn’t react but then slowly nods his head. He has some memories of that forgotten past but he isn’t sure how many of them are true and how many are a creation of his own imagination. He gulps the soup in one go and looks up at Hyungwon in anticipation so Hyungwon refills the spoon again.

Hyungwon feeds him the soup, and then fruits in silence. Ares eats everything, anticipating the next offering with reserved enthusiasm.

Hyungwon notices him scrunching his nose a little at the grapes even while eating them without any protest.

“What did your friends call you?” Hyungwon asks as he lets the fork drop in the bowl that’s now empty except the grapes.

Just as he puts the tray aside, Ares lets his head fall against Hyungwon’s arm, closes his eyes, ready to take a nap even after staying unconscious for almost two months. He mumbles something that Hyungwon can’t make out. “What?”

“They called me Minhyuk, sir.”

Hyungwon smiles in wonder as his humanity tells him his name. He pats his head, his shorn hair prickling his skin.

“Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk raises his head, startled. The utterance of his forgotten name makes his eyes shine with memories and hope and Hyungwon promises to treasure it, to keep him protected from now on.

With the red ink of this new dawn, he’ll write a new story for Minhyuk.

And this one will have a happy ending, he’s going to make sure of it.

***

“We should take him to the hospital,” Kihyun says, fiddling with his fingers in an uncharacteristic gesture of nervousness.

Ares is sleeping on the left side of the bed. Hyungwon is sitting beside him while Kihyun and Hoseok are sitting on plastic chairs that they brought from outside for some reason.

Hyungwon looks at Ares, curled into his side until he is a small ball of mass that doesn’t want to take space, probably a subconscious habit developed during his time in that dungeon in the hopes that the less space he takes, the more his captors will forget about him.

If only it was that simple.

Hyungwon scoffs. “We can’t trust anyone else. Father and every head of every family have a well-connected network. Can you confidently say that whichever doctor we take him to will not sell information about a child with an amplifier who matches the description of another wanted but presumed dead child with an amplifier?”

Kihyun shakes his head. “He is really weak, Hyungwon. He can barely stay up. I can’t tell how much of its malnutrition, how much of it is core poisoning or if it’s something else altogether. We need to figure it out if he dies, there would be nothing left to save.”

Hyungwon gives him a smarmy smile. “Well, if he is caught, then none of us - including him - will have any desire to be saved.”

They both look at Hoseok who is observing Ares, a puzzled expression on his face.

Kihyun puts a hand on Hoseok’s shoulder. “Is something the matter?”

“His core is...weird.” Hoseok says, his mouth twisting at ‘weird’ as though that’s not the correct word to describe what he is feeling.

“Weird?” Hyungwon asks as he looks at Ares, trying to feel what Hoseok is feeling.

“Yeah. It’s quite strong for his age but that could be the amplifier. But I have never felt this kind of power. Like, when I visualize Hyungwon’s power, it’s white, for Kihyun it’s yellow, for me, it’s blue but even though his core glows red, when I visualize his power...it’s a mess of different colors.”

“What makes you think that’s not the amplifier?” Hyungwon asks curiously, slightly envious of Hoseok for being so in touch with cores that he could even predict the strength and color of their power even without seeing them in action.

Ever since Hoseok was a child, he could do it, almost instinctively even though Hyungwon knows it's a practiced skill. Over the years as the accuracy rate increased, it became a party trick to impress people and break the ice.

When Hyungwon came of age, Hoseok helped him practice it but Hyungwon, for the life of him, couldn't see it.

Hoseok says that all he has to do is look at the thickness and color of the threads coming out of their cores to predict it but Hyungwon - like every other mortal who is not his brother - can’t visualize them as anything other than thin, white glowing threads.

The only good thing that came out of his month of labor and headache was accidentally discovering his ability to detect if anyone with a power core was around him. He honed it for the following months and completely forgot about what he set out to learn originally.

Kihyun groans. “That’s what I am saying! We don't know anything about his mysterious, stupid core and his mysterious, stupid amplifier. Even if he looks and sounds stable, he could be dying of core poisoning right now.”

Hyungwon looks down, not quite cocky enough to refute this when even he knows the truth is glaringly obvious: they don’t know anything about Minhyuk.

For fuck’s sake, an hour ago, Hyungwon didn’t even know his name.

“But we can’t risk it, Kihyun.” Hoseok continues with Hyungwon’s train of thought.

Kihyun sighs in resignation. “I know someone.” He glances at Hyungwon and then settles on Hoseok. “He is not a doctor but his power allows him to detect core health.”

Hyungwon raises a brow, unsure why if Kihyun knew someone like that, it would take him so long to reveal them? There’s a catch to this.

Even Hoseok can tell that much as he looks at Kihyun in confusion.

“Is this person trustworthy?” Hoseok asks.

“Yes.” Kihyun declares without any hesitation.

Hoseok nods eagerly, Kihyun's confidence enough to buy his trust.

Well, Hyungwon is less of a lovelorn fool and slightly more cautious than your average Hoseok and he definitely needs a little more than that.

Hyungwon snorts. “Fuck, no. I am not involving any of his phony friends.”

Hoseok smacks him on the head.

“He is not my friend. He is just...you’ll see what I mean when you meet him,” Kihyun mutters.

Hyungwon gives a fake laugh. “Well, that solves it. ‘You’ll see when you meet him'.” He points a finger at Kihyun in accusation. “It’s not even his friend!”

“He can be trusted,” Kihyun emphasizes.

“Then, why not ask him before? Why wait for two months?”

Kihyun presses his lips, his eyes not meeting Hyungwon's. “I didn’t think he'd make it.” He looks at Hyungwon in defiance, challenging Hyungwon to mock him for his assumptions.

Although Hyungwon is in no position to mock him when he himself had felt like he was in a dream in which Minhyuk’s life was a fleeting reality, too abstract even when he saw the body laid down in the bed, lifeless but full of deep breaths.

But now that Minhyuk is alive, he is more than Ares, an experiment, he is Minhyuk, a kid who they have to save at any cost because he is real and he deserves a chance to live.

However risky it might seem, if there's a chance - any chance - it's worth it.

Hyungwon looks at Hoseok who is staring at him, waiting for his judgment, and nods. “Okay, let’s do it.”

***

“You are shitting me, right? Your guy is...A KID?” Hyungwon exclaims in surprise.

It has been 6 hours since Hyungwon finally got to hear Minhyuk’s name.

Minhyuk is still sleeping and as much Kihyun insisted before leaving with Hoseok to get “his guy” that he needs to wake him up and feed him, Hyungwon just didn’t have the heart to. Not when he had finally uncurled as Hyungwon had sent a feeling of calmness through their bond, a trick he had just learned from the book.

Kihyun and "his guy" are standing in the hall with Hyungwon, Hoseok called in by his father to explain Hyungwon’s absence since he has his phone switched off.

“Shut up. He isn’t just a kid.”

Now Hyungwon wouldn’t claim to be an expert when it comes to sussing out someone’s age, but he knows a kid when he sees one.

He looks down once again and the kid looks up at him passively.

Despite his round face and chubby cheeks, he looks eerie. _It’s the eyes_, Hyungwon realizes. They are looking in Hyungwon’s direction but they look empty as if he can’t see Hyungwon. _No, that’s not right_, Hyungwon corrects himself as Jooheon’s eyes move from one point near his ear to another point near his nose, it’s as if he is not seeing him but rather seeing _through_ him.

It’s then Hyungwon realizes what he is doing. He is visualizing the threads coming out of Hyungwon and then what? Reading them?

Great. So Kihyun wants to help out a creepy kid with another creepy kid. That’s just great.

At least, Minhyuk has his excuse, Hyungwon thinks. Sure the little guy killed 100 or so people. Small accidents happen all the time - Jooheon’s eye moves to where his core is and Hyungwon folds his arms over his chest as a reflex - but even he has more childishness in his eyes than...whatever this kid is.

“You can say that again,” Hyungwon mutters.

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “He is harmless but very talented.” He ruffles Jooheon’s hair who keeps looking at Hyungwon passively.

Hyungwon gives a tight smile and squats down. “Yeah? What’s your name, kid?”

“Jooheon,” he says in a quiet voice that demands Hyungwon earn his words by listening to him closely.

“Hey, Jooheon. I'm Hyungwon. How old are you?”

“He’s te-” Kihyun intervenes.

“Let me talk to him. I want to get to know him better.” Hyungwon cuts him off. If he is going to make a collection of creepy kids then he might as well try to be on good terms with them.

That’s one thing his father has taught him: It’s those that are tough to figure out that are worth keeping around.

Kihyun makes a face but doesn’t stop him.

“Do you know why you are here, Jooheon?”

“Yes.” Not one to spare some words, huh?

“Can you tell me why?”

“Ares,” Jooheon says. Hyungwon startles. He looks up at Kihyun, pretty confident that Kihyun would never refer to Minhyuk as Ares to anyone now that he knows his name. Kihyun looks down at Jooheon, his eyes echoing Hyungwon’s surprise, as if he doesn’t know where that name came from either.

Hyungwon exhales, nervous for some reason. “Minhyuk. His name is Minhyuk.”

Jooheon stares at him with the same not-quite-there gaze. “Okay. Minhyuk.”

Hyungwon gives him a quizzical smile, his interest piqued by the way Jooheon says ‘Minhyuk’ as if accepting but not quite believing it.

As if he knows something that mortals like Hyungwon don’t.

“How will you help Minhyuk, Jooheon?”

“I’ll look through his core threads and tell you if his core is healthy,” he resumes in his soft quiet voice but there’s this quality to his tone as if he’s suppressing himself and if he spoke normally, like kids do, his loud voice would reach the far corners of the galaxy. It’s the same quality that Hyungwon hears in Minhyuk’s voice.

“Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

“Can you prove that to me right now?”

“Yes.” There’s no hesitation or excitement, just matter-of-fact business-type promptness which is jarring coming from not a seasoned businessman but from a kid.

“Do it then.”

“Ask me anything about you.”

“What’s my happiest memory?”

Jooheon looks into his eyes, awareness receding further back as his irises start glowing red.

Even though Hyungwon badly wants to look away, the magnetic pull of Jooheon’s eyes forces him to keep looking at those calm red seas that seem to want to suck his soul out.

“Riding a bicycle downward on a slope with Hoseok running after you. Four years ago in Namara.”

Hyungwon’s breath hitches.

They had been in Namara, Hoseok had taken him there for some function in his aunt’s family. As they were coming back, the empty road going down the steep slope on the mountain had made for the perfect path to accelerate his bicycle to high speed without exerting any effort.

Hoseok had chased him down, his face twisted in worry as Hyungwon’s bicycle had picked up a dangerous speed but Hyungwon didn’t care.

To this day, he doesn’t know what came over him that made him take off his hands from the handle, close his eyes and spread his arms until he was nothing but wind.

An element of earth, he had felt fatalistic.

Eventually, Hoseok released Egan and ended his adventure but even as Hyungwon was pressed against his brother’s chest and Hoseok was babbling in worry, almost hysterical, Hyungwon couldn’t take his eyes off his bicycle, lying just on the edge of the road where it met the drop of the mountain, just a little more and he would have fell to his death.

He had gripped Hoseok's arms as he realized what almost could have been just because he dared to feel free for a second.

But before that painful lesson on the consequences of his reckless actions, there it was: freedom. As fleeting as it was, it was a feeling that Hyungwon knows he’ll never feel again.

On the edge of death, unaware, he was wind, and that’s his happiest memory.

“Was that enough for you?” Jooheon's voice brings Hyungwon's attention to the present and he nods, shaking the cobwebs of his past and that always tempting feeling of freedom, much too close but always so far.

***

Kihyun and Hyungwon sit on the chairs set beside the bed while Jooheon climbs onto the bed unprompted and sits beside Minhyuk’s sleeping form, his legs folded and tucked under him, his posture elegant as if he’ll whip out a kettle and they’ll have a tea ceremony here with Minhyuk as their table.

Before Hyungwon can rouse Minhyuk, Jooheon takes the lead and shakes him gently.

With a jolt, Minhyuk comes to consciousness and the bed starts shaking. Before Hyungwon can follow through his part of a good nanny and soothe him, Jooheon takes Minhyuk’s face in his small pudgy hands and turns his face towards him.

Minhyuk spares one glance at Jooheon’s face and miraculously the bed stops shaking. For some reason, Minhyuk’s eyes widen in awe and he sits up to look at Jooheon like a cat observing its new home, his gaze intent but passive, mirroring Jooheon.

Jooheon’s hands stay on Minhyuk’s cheek and unlike with Hoseok, Minhyuk lets it be. Too absorbed in Jooheon.

Crisis averted, Hyungwon exhales in relief and sits back down. Beside him, Kihyun is sitting with his hands linked, keen senses jotting down every observation.

Perhaps, Kihyun had the right idea when he brought a child - albeit he could do with a less weird child - to meet another child.

Going by the conditions of the dungeon, they probably weren’t taking Minhyuk to nearby parks where he could interact with other kids. Tsk. Someone really needed to get those people some books on parenting.

“They tell me your name is Minhyuk, is that true?”

Jooheon’s voice is gentle and sweet, a direct contrast to the cold and detached tone he had used with Hyungwon earlier. His gaze loses its otherworldly quality and it finally looks like he is looking at Minhyuk and not _through_ Minhyuk.

In a radical shift, he radiates warmth. But the niggling feeling that prods at Hyungwon doesn’t leave him. Even with all the changes, Jooheon still gives off the aura of someone way older than the child in front of him. As if he is a soul trapped in the wrong vessel.

A beat passes and Minhyuk’s answer comes in the form of an eager nod, his enthusiasm another novelty.

“Do you like that name, Minhyuk?”

“I do, sir.”

Jooheon shakes his head, his hands leaving Minhyuk’s face after tapping his cheek once. “Please call me Jooheon.”

Minhyuk lowers his head. “I shouldn’t, sir.”

Jooheon leans forwards and hunches his back until he is on the same level as Minhyuk’s lowered head. “'Sir' is for old people. Do you think I am old?” Jooheon pouts, childish and playful.

Hyungwon face scrunches in utter confusion - and a little offense, he is not old, thank you very much - as he finally sees the child in Jooheon that was completely missing during their first meeting.

Minhyuk shakes his head and when he lifts his face, his lips are twitching, trying to catch his smile before it leaves his lips, untethered and out in the world where there are many people on the lookout to quash it again and again.

“I-I-” Minhyuk’s eyes move to look for something. It passes by Kihyun without any consideration and stops at Hyungwon. His gaze is questioning and Hyungwon, not entirely sure of the question, still gives him an encouraging nod anyway.

Minhyuk takes it and looks at Jooheon, still a little hesitant to take this huge step in accepting a friend and not a caretaker or torturer. Names obviously mean much more to him than other people.

They didn’t bring him a friend though. They bought him a dissector but Hyungwon isn’t going to be the one to tell him that and who knows - Hyungwon observes the dimple on Jooheon’s cheek as he smiles at Minhyuk who returns it with his own shy one, both so pure and full of childish glee - maybe unknowingly, Kihyun did bring him a friend.

Hyungwon turns to Kihyun and sees a soft smile on his face and corrects his statement to ‘knowingly’.

“Do you like my name, Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk gives another nod. Frankly, Hyungwon disagrees and thinks that it’s a mediocre name but well, each to their own.

“My friends call me Joohoney. Can you call me that?”

Minhyuk stares at Jooheon, his gaze full of numerous emotions. Hyungwon picks confusion and pain before tears start spilling from Minhyuk’s eyes. Hyungwon gets up to calm him but is stopped by Kihyun’s hand on his arm, eyes not leaving the two kids even as his grip tightens on Hyungwon indicating him to stay in place so Hyungwon complies. For now.

Turns out Kihyun does know what he is doing because Jooheon gathers Minhyuk in his arms, murmuring words too quiet for Hyungwon to hear. Minhyuk clutches him as he had clutched Hyungwon and they stay like that for a while until Jooheon lets his arms fall and Minhyuk falls sideways on the bed with a thump, fast asleep.

Hyungwon rolls his eyes, already fond. Jooheon adjusts him so that he is lying with his head on the pillow. He covers him with the blanket, no trace of warmth left as he looks up at Hyungwon again, that soul-piercing gaze back at it, dissecting Hyungwon, or more precisely Hyungwon’s threads again.

“His body is very weak.”

Hyungwon makes a face. “Yeah? You don’t say.”

Jooheon must have his emotions on house-arrest, only allowed to take them out for an hour in a day because he gives no reaction to satisfy Hyungwon.

Jooheon closes his eyes and opens them, his irises glowing that dangerous red, his eyes locked on Minhyuk.

Taking him all in, his eyes rapidly move around Minhyuk; following the threads coming out of him, linking him to the universe, tracing his roots, reading the reverb across the threads criss-crossing with the others, gathering what he wanted.

Jooheon’s shallow breath becomes normal and his gaze finally moves towards Minhyuk’s core. It’s then that Hyungwon realizes that up until now everything that Jooheon did, whatever pieces of information he gathered, had nothing to do with what he was brought here for.

With this, comes the realization that Jooheon probably knows things about Minhyuk that even Minhyuk himself might not remember.

Hyungwon grits his teeth as he thinks about how he underestimated Jooheon just because he is a kid and handed him Minhyuk on a platter, making him an unintentional bystander to the invasion of his own privacy.

Jooheon’s gaze stays on Minhyuk’s core and then slowly moves towards Hyungwon. Before Hyungwon can stop him, Jooheon stops on his own, his eyes returning to their black color, somehow more empty than before.

“You are core-bonded.”

Hyungwon leans back in his chair, staring straight into Jooheon’s eyes, even if his whole being protests.

Practice makes perfect. His bullets that don't miss their mark anymore even from a distance, his heart that doesn’t skip a beat anymore after every life that bleeds to death because of him will attest to that statement.

So, yeah, Jooheon is a threat that he has never encountered before. His ambiguous power bordering on the supernatural is a clear threat if he decides to be on the other side and the way he has been treating him, the idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched so he has to start gauging his weakness when he has the time.

“We are. How is his core?”

Jooheon cocks his head. His blackhole eyes - his preferred weapon - set on Hyungwon, dormant but still unsettling.

Hyungwon doesn’t give in though, he empties his heart and his mind of everything: pain, love, fear, desires all leave his body until he is just a mirror reflecting whatever you project on him, just like his father taught him.

Whispered along the corridors of their mansion, his father’s cronies talk about how Hyungwon has inherited the same detached persona from his father.

They are wrong because it’s not something that he inherited but something that he worked hard for until it became a natural defense mechanism to fall back on.

The same facade that had stayed intact as he had gouged out the eyes of a madame in a brothel house because his father had asked him to in front of everyone.

He knew what it was. His father wasn’t given to cruelty if it didn’t serve a purpose so it wasn’t as much as retribution against her for refusing his father protection money but it was a spectacle, meant as much for the public as for Hyungwon himself.

At the age of 13, it was his coming-of-age ceremony. The screams of the madame, as Hyungwon had scooped out her now mangled eyes with a spoon to show everyone, was his gift to him by his father.

Hyungwon did it all, as instructed by his father, with clear preciseness. He didn’t go out of his way to hurt her more but he also made no effort to hurt her less under his father’s keen gaze. It was what it was and Hyungwon did it just like his father, with no joy or misery.

His father got what he wanted as Hyungwon passed his test with flying colors and made his great debut in the world of the mafia, striking fear in the heart of their enemies and their own members.

Hyungwon had gone home and found his brother sitting in the corner of his room, lights off, the blue glow of the night light painting him as the quintessential figure of melancholy.

It wasn’t until he had seen him that Hyungwon let himself feel. His knees had buckled and he had fallen on the carpeted floor with a thump. Hoseok had crawled towards him and held him tightly as they both wept for his humanity.

After that day, Hoseok stopped saying what he always used to say: “Eyes are the windows to your soul and yours is so pure, so untainted, Hyungwon. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

And Hyungwon knows why.

With each crime, his soul was chipped of its purity and the cracks started revealing what lay underneath: a disregard for humanity if it stood between him and his goals.

Hoseok could lie to himself and tell himself otherwise but Hyungwon knew what he was behind his every mask.

His eyes narrow but don’t leave Jooheon. “Yes, we are. I don’t remember asking you to do more than look into his core and tell if it’s healthy or not.”

Jooheon looks at Kihyun and then at Hyungwon, his voice flat. “I do what I am asked of. No more, no less.”

Hyungwon hears the implication and for once, lets it slide away. “I don’t want you to tell me or anyone else anything other than the state of his core. Can I trust you with that information, Jooheon?”

Jooheon and Hyungwon are one and the same, two flip sides of the same coin. Now that he has dared to look into the depths of those empty wells, Hyungwon sees the same disregard for humanity in general.

Hyungwon doesn’t know what Jooheon saw in Minhyuk to start caring for him at a singular glance but he had witnessed that warmth, and he doesn’t see a reason as to why he can’t use that to his advantage.

Jooheon looks at Kihyun again but Hyungwon snatches his attention. “It’s very important for Minhyuk’s safety and Minhyuk himself that no one knows his story. Can I trust you with Minhyuk, Jooheon?”

Kihyun sighs in resignation.

Jooheon nods slowly. Hyungwon leans forward in his chair, assured for now.

“Just tell us about the health of his core,” Kihyun finally speaks up.

Jooheon takes Minhyuk’s slack hand in his own and looks at their joined hands as he mumbles his words into the charged air. “No core poisoning detected but it’s fragile. He’ll live for now. But if you want to see him live past his teens, the less he uses his powers, the better.”

“Yeah, I thought so too,” Kihyun mutters, his voice trailing off in thought leaving Hyungwon clueless.

“Why is that?”

His question is directed at Jooheon but it's Kihyun who takes it up. “The more power he uses, the more the threshold for the amplifier would increase. In turn, his core would have to produce more power to keep feeding into the amplifier and for that, his core will have to gather more resources from his body. That's why he is so weak and his growth is stunted."

“Even when we don’t use our abilities, our cores still have power, right? I mean the only thing that ‘using a power’ does is direct that power outwards. So, isn’t his active core - even when not in use - hurting him as well?

“As far as I can understand, I think it only goes through the amplifier when he is using his ability or directing the already present power outwards, as you put it.”

Kihyun looks at Jooheon who nods in confirmation.

"If this goes on, in a few years or months, depending on the rate he is using his power, his amplifier will have a threshold high enough to make his core start eating away at his body. After that, he can drop dead at any second.”

Hyungwon licks his lips, an idea popping into his mind. “What if I keep him nullified?”

Kihyun shakes his head. “That’s not healthy for him either. It’s not healthy for anyone. While using his power can cause him to die at any unpredictable moment, keeping his core nullified will lead to a slow death. Our body needs our cores to be in active rotation most of the time or they will start...rusting and it will poison our blood. It will start with swelling of joints and constant muscle ache, and then devolve into, well, death but before that he’ll suffer. A lot.”

“Yeah, okay, bad idea. Got it. No need to go into details. How do I stop him from using his power when his first reaction after waking up is to use his power?”

Kihyun falls silent, lips pressed together to think of the answer.

“You ask him,” Jooheon says while staring directly at Hyungwon, leaving no doubt about who needs to do the asking.

“That’s it?” Hyungwon asks, an eyebrow raised in mild-surprise.

“That’s all you can do.”

***

At the door, Jooheon once again looks like a child, his hand linked with Kihyun ready to drop him at his place, wherever that might be, somehow a homely house just doesn’t fit Jooheon.

Hyungwon comes to lock the door behind him. Kihyun willingly leaving him alone in his place for the second time in his life.

“Be kind when you talk to him. Be sweet. Channel Hoseok. Don’t fuck this up.” Kihyun states, unrolling his sleeves before going outside, always lying his way into civilization.

“Great advice. You should write a self-help book.” Hyungwon says, a mocking grin on his face.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and then ruffles his hair, Hyungwon immediately swats his hand away. “Call me if anything happens. You asked for space to talk to him alone and I am trusting your judgement but be careful, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Hyungwon smiles and then crouches down to Jooheon’s level, getting immune to those selectively empty eyes, something that Hyungwon can relate to now that he has looked into them head-on. “I had a question for you.”

Jooheon nods, seemingly giving Hyungwon permission even when he isn’t seeking one. “How did you know Minhyuk’s other name? Ares?”

“Plato or Aristotle?”

“Huh?”

Jooheon looks at him with no discernible expression on his face. His lips sealed again as if he has already answered the question. Hyungwon’s heart starts beating faster as those eyes lock into his again, this time swirling with wisdom that iterates to Hyungwon that he has no idea who he is talking to but whoever it is, it’s not just a simple child with too much power.

“As for your other question, the one you were thinking of when we had entered Minhyuk’s room?”

Hyungwon’s eyes widen and he looks up at Kihyun sharply.

“He can sometimes read minds.” Kihyun grimaces, guilty of withholding information that he knows would have stopped Hyungwon from coming within a hundred miles of Jooheon.

“He doesn’t fear you because he knows that with one wrong tug on any of your threads - that you have given him full access to by allowing him to form a core-bond with you - he can easily kill you. It’s no coincidence that when you were looking to reach for his core at the field, his core thread was just there, ready to tangle itself with yours. He made it happen. Even at the death’s doorstep, he knew that one way or another - death or life - you’ll save him.”

It’s the most that Jooheon has spoken to him and even as he tugs Kihyun’s hand to lead him out, Hyungwon stays there crouched staring at nothing, processing all the information.

***

“Hey, sleepyhead. It’s time to eat something.” Hyungwon says sweetly, gently, his voice soft like pure satin, channeling his inner Hoseok as instructed.

Minhyuk turns over and Hyungwon makes sure that he is the first thing that Minhyuk sees. He opens his eyes and upon seeing Hyungwon, his body instantly relaxes.

“I am not really hungry if that’s okay.”

“I am afraid that you need to eat something,” Hyungwon lifts the food tray as Minhyuk sits up, back hunched in fatigue, “if you have any favorites or something that you want to eat, tell me and I’ll get you that but you need to eat something.”

Minhyuk nods resignedly, his eyes closing on their own and then opening again with an uneven blink. Hyungwon smiles. “Okay then. Kihyun wanted me to give you oats but I also got you some jam and bread. Do you like that?”

This time Minhyuk’s nod is much more enthusiastic.

***

Hyungwon sits there with Kihyun’s notepad in his hand, ready to write all the supplies that they need for Minhyuk.

“We, of course, need a toothbrush. A baby soap? But you aren’t a baby, though.” Hyungwon mutters to himself, a sleepy Minhyuk nods, confirming his status as a non-baby.

“Let’s see. You wake up, you brush your teeth, so you need a toothbrush, then you bathe so you need soap or body wash because Kihyun doesn’t like sharing his own - Hoseok told me that - then you need some towels and clothes. Any preferences?”

“Pref-Prefer-?”

“Preferences. It means, uh, that are there any kind of clothes that you like? Any favorites?”

Minhyuk shakes his head but then bites his lips, his body language betraying his words.

“Come on, tell me."

“Uh, a cap, a red cap will be preference.”

Hyungwon’s lips twitch. “Preferable. We also need some books and stationery. I’ll get you some food as well since I am your guardian now.”

“What is that?”

“Stationary?”

Minhyuk shakes his head.

“Guardian?” A nod. “It basically means that I will take care of you now.”

Minhyuk lowers his head and Hyungwon hears him sniffling. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. Do you want any toys? Something to play with?”

Minhyuk doesn’t lift his head and finally, a shaky whisper comes as an answer. “I like… drawing and coloring.”

“Okay." An image of a forgotten drawing book in his room, containing a myriad of whales flashes through Hyungwon's mind. “Would you like a whale plushie?”

Minhyuk tilts his head in confusion even as his eyes twinkle with just the name ‘whale’ itself.

“It’s like a soft whale doll. Like a teddy bear but a whale.”

Hyungwon isn’t sure that Minhyuk understood exactly but he takes Minhyuk’s slightly bouncing and nodding his head rapidly as ‘Yes’.

It’s so adorable and Hyungwon bites the inside of his cheek. “Can you promise me something, Minhyuk?”

“Will you not get me the whale doll if I don’t?”

Hyungwon should say yes. It will make things so much easier. But he is channeling Hoseok and he is pretty sure that negotiating with a poor kid with toys as his bargaining chip will be frowned upon in Hoseok-nation.

“No. No. I will get it for you. But if you promise me this, it will make me really happy.”

Minhyuk gives him a hesitant nod.

“Could you not use your power unless I ask you to? Only me.”

The silence stretches between them as the tentative relationship that Hyungwon had forged with Minhyuk - at the risk of his own life if Jooheon is to be believed - balances on a knife’s edge.

“I promise.”

Hyungwon smiles, pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. He still needs to validate this promise by the most legal and sacred means available to a child. He crooks his pinky finger extending it to Minhyuk who links it with his own.

Maybe they started with a few bumps in the road - massive crater-sized, earth-deep bumps - but things will only look up from now on. The universe has taken too much from Minhyuk and Hyungwon, it’s time to get some recompensation.

With Hyungwon, Minhyuk is going to get a second chance at life and with Minhyuk, Hyungwon will be able to keep in touch with his humanity.

And together they are both going to rewrite the prophecies.

**Present**

The barely visible stars hide behind the cover of the clouds as a man, tall and stout, leans against the wall and exhales, a cloud of smoke erupts and dissipates as he takes another puff of his cigarette.

The clouds move away as they continue on their journey to a place near-by. The moon takes its chance to shed some night on the decrepit alley behind an abandoned bar that now revels in its former glory of debauchery, its shutters closed for a year after gang murders one too many.

Before the light can reveal something beyond a strange figure with a bowl hat and a dapper suit in the forgotten alley, the clouds hold the moon in their embrace again. The man takes another puff from his half-burned cigarette as he looks at his watch. When he looks up again, two neon green eyes stare at him with passing curiosity.

A soft smile overtakes his face and he clicks his fingers. “Here Kitty, Kitty.”

The black cat cocks its head in curiosity but doesn’t move from the closed dumpster it's sitting on. The man pats his pockets, looking for a treat when another man steps into the alley.

Juxtaposed to the former man, this man is of average height, wearing casual jeans and sneakers, his slim figure clad in a hoodie covering his head, his face hidden behind a plain black face mask. He gives the former man a slight nod in greeting which the other man returns.

When he swirls his head to look at the cat again, he only finds air.

“You are early.” The man with the hoodie has a deep electronic voice, another part of him hidden away behind a voice-changer.

“Yeah, I know how you hate it when people aren’t on time.”

The shorter man nods, acknowledging it.

“I also don’t like people blackmailing me into meeting them. When I gave you the file, I made it clear that until you have found the boy, I won’t be meeting you. So tell me have you found the boy?”

“Well, not yet but that’s what I called you here for.”

“I don’t like people wasting my time either so this better be worth it, and put that shit away.” The shorter man says while pointing at the cigarette.

The taller man complies and lets it drop from his fingers before stomping on it. “So, listen to this, the young prodigy of Emerald has returned.”

The shorter man folds his arms. “And? I have no interest in your petty mafia shit.”

“No, listen. I think his return might be connected to Ares. I mean there were always rumors surrounding his participation in the last gang war and then you spread this file and one week later, he is back. Doesn’t it seem fishy to you?”

The shorter man’s face hidden by the shadows gives away nothing but his sharp words say plenty as he threateningly takes a step towards the other man, crowding him against the wall. “I think I was pretty clear when I said not to call me until you have confirmed the status or location of the boy, was I not?”

The taller man’s back is straight against the wall as he tries to maintain a distance. “I mean it’s a lead-”

“Was I clear or not?” the electric-voice growls, creating music for the patrons of the macabre.

The taller man gulps. “Yeah, you were.”

The shorter man puts his hand on the other man’s arm, making him flinch. “I can crack your bones. I can make your flesh rot and fall. I can give you a mortal wound just by touching you, you’d think that you will heed my warnings.”

“I am so-”

The sentence is cut short by a scream that the shorter man instantly muffles by putting his leather-clad hand on his mouth while the other hand clutching his arm, the glow of his power hidden by the gloves. He takes his hand away after a few seconds, pushing the other man away, giving away his intention to just warn and not harm.

“Next time you call me, I want facts and not conjectures based on the whimsy of some mafia brat I couldn’t care less about. You understand me this time, yes?”

The other man stumbles while holding his arm, the pain fading away but still searing enough to make him pant. “Y-Yes.”

The shorter man nods in farewell and the other man nods back in hesitation accepting that their meeting is finished.

The shorter man walks out first mingling with the night while the other man crouches down and slumps against the wall, rubbing the sore spot on his arm.

Something comes out from behind the dumpster and the man looks up to find the black cat sitting in front of him. He gives a light laugh, still delirious from what just happened. He clicks his tongue and pats the ground. “Here kitty, kitty.”

The cat cocks its head like before and then struts towards him, its gait slow and graceful like a predator. It climbs over his thigh and then looks at him with wide eyes. The man laughs, overwhelmed by the absurdity of the night.

“God, I am not sure if this is happening or if I am just hallucinating.”

The cat nods in sympathy and moves back to stand in the middle of the alley. It’s dark fur making it a part of this nightmarish night until it isn’t a cat but a boy on his all fours, his back arched and a mischievous smile on his face.

The man blinks slowly, not believing his eyes but there’s no mistaking the boy sitting in front of him, cocking his head much like the cat.

“Hi!” The boy chirps and the man closes his eyes. The boy’s deep voice bringing his worst nightmares come to life. He opens his eyes again and just stares at the boy, doing a poor job of hiding his fear.

The boy pouts. “I thought you wanted to play?”

The man doesn’t get the chance to respond as the boy takes out his gun and hits the man with it on the head, rendering him unconscious.

The mischievous persona drops with the smile leaving a stoic Changkyun behind.

His eyes don’t leave his prey as he takes out his phone and his fingers type a familiar number he knows by heart. The person on the other side picks up the phone after two rings.

“Hey. Where you at?”

***

The next morning sees Changkyun standing in front of Hyungwon’s study, an uncharacteristic hesitancy making his eyebrows furrow.

Training in spying since his early teens allows him to easily pick someone’s footsteps behind him, his nose twitches as it picks up Hoseok’s scent and soon enough Hoseok taps his shoulder.

“Are you planning to knock or not?”

Wordless, Changkyun sidesteps and lets Hoseok take his place.

“I can wait. You go on first.”

Hoseok shrugs. “We both can go in. I just wanted to give him some last-minute tips.” Hoseok pushes the door but it doesn’t open, he sighs. “This boy. Oi! Open the door, you.”

Hoseok's phone rings and he glances at the contact name, his eyes narrow as he puts it on the loudspeaker. Hyungwon’s voice comes out through the electronic cackle. “Learn to knock first.”

“Just open the door.”

“No. I am naked.”

“It’s okay. I have changed your diapers.”

“Yeah but that was before I had this huge di-”

Hoseok hangs up and then bangs the door with the force reserved for whack-a-mole and definitely not a simple knock. The door opens to reveal a very not-naked Hyungwon in a black striped suit with matching vest.

“Yes?” Hyungwon asks as if he wasn’t just talking to Hoseok about his supposedly big dick a second before.

Hoseok pushes him aside and enters the room. Changkyun stays outside, still too caught up in his hesitance.

“You coming in?” Hyungwon asks.

“Uh. Yeah.” Changkyun enters, the sound of the door slamming shut behind him following him in. He forgoes sitting in the chair in front of the table in favor of sitting on the settee in the corner of the small room, his legs up and folded, waiting patiently for his turn.

Hyungwon takes his seat and Changkyun observes his slicked-back hair and a new suit.

“You look fancy. Going on a hot date?” Changkyun's tone comes out snarkier than intended but Hyungwon doesn’t comment.

“I wish. The commission has asked for a sit-down with me.”

Changkyun whistles. “Good luck, man.”

Hoseok sighs. “We should have called the meeting ourselves first. Now they would think you were trying to hide your return or something,”

Hyungwon arches a brow, his lips quirking up in amusement. “Hiding by kicking out almost all the made men of our family and then taking most of them out in the follow-up gang war?”

Hoseok rolls his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I meant you were avoiding meeting them.”

Hyungwon gives a mocking smile. “Huh. Whatever gave them that idea? I am oh-so-willing to get on my knees to lick their shoes like they expect me to. My heart is just bursting with joy! Can’t wait, honestly.”

Hoseok turns back to look at Changkyun. “Is he being sarcastic?”

Hyungwon bangs the table. “Yes! He is being sarcastic!”

Hoseok sighs. “Look, I know you dislike them but we need their support right now. With all the things going on, we can’t afford to spend our resources on another gang war against us which, I am sure, is brewing. Our numbers make us look weak and other gangs are on the lookout. They can take our name and reputation or just dissolve our family altogether.

Say what you will about father but he did put the ‘organize’ in organized crime and that’s probably the only reason, they haven’t pounced on us yet. It’s the mutual respect that has kept the four families from clashing in this small town and it's _Omerta_ that has kept us safe from the police. Right now, we are in desperate need of both.”

Hyungwon swirls his chair back, hiding the resignation apparent on his face. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.”

Hoseok gives him a soft smile. “You are going to do great. Just keep your smartass comments to yourself. Don’t worry if it doesn’t pan out. If it comes to it, we’ll go down with a fight.”

“We’ll go down, you can say that again.”

Hoseok's smile drops. “Fine. Here’s the truth: We need this. We need this badly. I don’t think we can slack off on our father’s influence anymore. So I need you to be respectful but intimidating. All we want is them to believe that you are even better than father. And you are, Hyungwon. You aren’t cold but you are just as calculative. I need you to convince them that we won’t be meddling in their affairs and all we need from them is to be left alone.”

Hyungwon leans back in his chair, head lolling, a lazy smirk on his face. “Are you asking me to lie to my elders, big brother? Because actively working to eradicate child trafficking is definitely meddling with their affairs.”

“I am not asking you to lie. I am just asking you to...omit some truths. Considering we haven’t really done anything to help children because we are too busy restructuring, I don’t think it’s technically a lie.”

Hyungwon looks at Changkyun who rolls his eyes and Hyungwon smiles. “So many words to say so less, just say: 'Yes, I want you to lie'. Try it."

Hoseok sighs, resigned and deep. “Yes, lie. Lie like you want to. Father used to say that moral high ground will get you nowhere but killing will make you a made man and that’s all you need to know about how mafia works. And as much as I hate to say this he did know what he was talking about."

Hoseok gets up from his chair and walks towards the other side of the table. His hands reach for Hyungwon’s tie and unexpectedly, he unties it and lets it fall on Hyungwon’s lap.

Hyungwon looks up into Hoseok’s eyes expecting the warmth Hoseok always envelops him with but instead he finds the same detached coldness that he sometimes sees in the mirror and once again he is reminded that apple never falls far from the tree.

“Let’s forget Hoseok for today. Be calculative and merciless. That’s what these people deserve. We are not here to save everyone. People like them deserve karma,” Hoseok takes a step back, a cold smile painting his face into of that of a stranger and Hyungwon looks in awe as he gets a sneak peek into his brother’s another side, “But we have to wait for the right time until then-”

“We play.” Hyungwon completes.

Changkyun looks at both the brothers, the same inherited calculative look in their eyes, and not for the first time, he wonders why saving Minhyuk matters so much to them.

Are they trying to save a person?

Or are they trying to save their possession?

***

Two hands pat Hyungwon’s chest and then move downwards as Hyungwon stands in front of Medusa, the lounge located in the neutral territory right in the center of their town.

The guard gestures him to turn and he complies, expression flat, he stares at the flickering street light. The yellow glow lights the empty street below it and Hyungwon feels his breath puff in small clouds.

“This one is clear.” The gruff sound of guard sounds out as he pats Hyungwon’s shoulder and Hyungwon turns back.

Without any warning, the guard puts a Coremeter above his chest - over his core - and Hyungwon starts counting down from 3, not aware that he has stopped breathing.

3

2

1

0

He exhales.

The Coremeter - a slim circular black object with a screen on its front - beeps once and then announces Hyungwon’s power in its vaguely female robotic monotone.

Core Strength - Level 8

The guard keeps the Coremeter in place, his face stoic, not so much as a twitch of his mustache to indicate his fear.

“Your name, family and position, please.”

“Chae Hyungwon. Emerald. The head.”

The guard nods, takes the Coremeter off and turns the screen towards him.

“Please press your index finger on the red circle in the center of the screen.”

3

2

1

0

_Confirmed_

The guard slips the device in his pocket and holds out his hand towards the other guard standing beside him, eyes never leaving Hyungwon's face. The other guard turns around and picks up a pair of Repel Bands lying on the small table behind him.

“Your arms, please.”

Hyungwon acquiesces, knowing fully well that the ‘please’ is just part of the script rather than an actual request.

Slim and black in color, the bands enclose his wrist with a click and a beep. The stretchy material is comfortable even as it wraps his wrists in a vice grip. The bands, true to their name, project a magnet-like field around his body repelling the field created by his core, halting it in place and the button on it starts glowing red, announcing a job well done.

Hyungwon takes a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his hands. The tingling sensation coming from the band makes him think of a venomous snake, wrapping around his arm in tight spindles and tightening its hold until his arms grow numb and his hands break out into tingles, each sensation like a focused electric current.

Hyungwon takes a deep breath and lets go of the image as the sensation dulls.

“Welcome, Mr. Chae.” The guard gives him an artificial smile, another part of the script and Hyungwon gives a bland smile of his own as he enters.

***

Inside, the lounge is flooded with lights, ornamental lamps affixed here and there on the wall, seemingly following no pattern.

Their dim yellow light washes over Hyungwon, reveals his pores and his intentions to the other three people sitting around him on the circular table.

The light glints in his eyes and reflects in his glass as he shakes it languidly. The whiskey sloshes and he takes a sip, his blank eyes drooping as the whiskey travels down his throat, leaving a burn in its wake.

“Now that we are done with the toasts and all the niceties, can we talk business?”

The man who had introduced himself as Hyungsik says, his tone rough.

_“Hyungsik. Family: Onyx. He is direct with a clear distaste for diplomacy. He became wealthy as a bootlegger during prohibition, moved on to number racketing and extorting money from restaurant workers and owners. Became the head after the former boss and his family died in a mysterious car accident. My money is on him orchestrating that._

_He doesn’t wear fancy suits or hats. He is like your local hoodlum, complete with too many gold chains. Don’t try to pull him into mind games. If he caught a sniff of it, you’d be in his shit list no matter your position, and trust me you don’t want to be there._

_He is famous for coming up with inventive ways to torture. Once a man refused to buy his shitty beer and he beat him and hung him by his thumbs from a meat hook, then allegedly wrapped a gauze bandage smeared with discharge from a gonorrhea infection over his eyes._

_He is known as “mad dog” and he is bringing a lot of press attention and heat from the public by getting involved in gang wars in busy public places. I am sure he'll be put down soon by the commission but before that make sure that he doesn’t bite you. Ability: Transformation of his arms into tentacles.”_ Hyungwon recalls Hyunwoo’s words.

“Of course. That’s what we are here for.” Jackson replies, a genial smile on his face.

"Jackson. Family: Carnelian. He is the exact opposite to Hyungsik in many ways. An orphan, he was taken in by Carnelian’s former head when he was 8.

_Apparently, he reminded him of his son who had died during a violent encounter with Onyx, an incident that preceded the formation of the commission by your father._

_He was groomed to become the next head from a young age. He took to it like a duck to water. Took over from his father a year ago as the official head._

_A great diplomat and manipulator. Classy suits. Hollywood smile. Has been acquitted 3 times, a public favorite._

_Other than a volatile love affair with Mina, an actress on the rise, there isn’t much known about his private life even though the media loves him and he loves to party._

_His family makes its money through smuggling drugs and casinos. He is expanding into real estate and business. Ambitious, he is currently pouring his money into a strip near Verana desert to build a grand casino and hotel. He is also eyeing the operation in bigger cities. Ability: Hypnotism by voice."_

“Let the boy settle in first. After all, it’s his first time.” Jung-il says politely, a calculative glint in his eyes.

_“Jung-il. Family: Jasper. He functions in numbers. Wherever profit is, he goes. Before him Jasper was a lowly gang, he took over and started making a name for himself by smuggling weapons._

_He then started lending ability users. If you need anything done, you go to him and he’ll lend you a suitable ability user that will get that job done. His catalog of information on each ability user tells me he has an in with the government._

_Still not satisfied, he started child trafficking. Kidnapping or buying children with abilities and then selling them to the highest bidder. Usually, the children are orphans or from sex workers or just sold by poor people, so the local police don’t really care about it, not with the huge bribes covering their eyes._

_With Emerald in a weakened state, he is probably eyeing it the most. After all, protection money and running a prostitution ring do earn a lot. Ability: Rot. He can break or rot - depending on his mood - any of your bones just by a single touch.”_

Hyungwon smiles gently, his eyes blank, just like his father. “Thank you for your concern. I have been here for over a month, I have settled in just fine.”

Jung-il raises his glass in a toast, acknowledging his words, the calculative glint never leaving his eyes. “We should have invited you sooner.” A dramatic sigh leaves his lips, “If it were like the old times we would have had a proper initiation but you young blood,” His eyes sweep over Jackson and Hyungwon, “seem to have your own ways.”

“Now now, watch your words, sir,” begins Jackson playfully, “tradition has always been a priority for me and my father, you know that. After all, my father did cite tradition to make you the head of Jasper even when there were serious _allegations_ against you.”

Jung-il’s grip tightens on his glass even as he gives a toothy smile. “Allegations aren’t facts.”

Jackson smirk is entirely belligerent and self-satisfied. “Of course!”

The jug of water on the table shakes as Hyungsik pounds his fist on the table. “Can we get to the point here?” He looks at the Repel band on his right hand, his permanent snarl even more prominent. “I want to get out of these things, so fucking get on with it.”

Jung-il holds his hand up, the red button on his band catching Hyungwon’s eyes.

“Used to be that the mafia, even the heads, could meet any time, anywhere and trust each other to not use their powers.” Jung-il sighs and then looks straight at Hyungwon. "If things came to a head, we just gunned each other. Swift and unmessy.”

Hyungwon raises his glass. “Good Ol’ days.” His tone entirely flat.

“Well, pardon me for trying to induce some civilization-” Jackson begins.

“Yeah. Yeah. Fancy boy with his fancy gadgets.” Hyungsik cuts him off and then gulps down his whiskey at once, his expression smooth, not even a slight wince to give away his weakness. He gets up from his seat, his heavy gold chain swaying with the motion and looks Hyungwon up and down.

“Welcome to the commission, kid. Just don’t interfere with my businesses and I won’t interfere with yours. Yeah?”

Hyungwon bows. “That goes without saying.”

“Great. I am outta here.”

He swings his jacket on his shoulder, nods at the others and then leaves without even a backward glance. His gait of a man who believes himself invincible even in the face of God.

Jackson observes Hyungsik leave, his fingers tap on the wooden table as though the thoughts running through his mind are too quick, too complex and he needs an outlet. His eyes narrow as the door slams shut behind Hyungsik and maybe Hyungsik should start watching his back after all.

Jackson catches Hyungwon’s eyes and seems to get a hold of himself. The smile that he gives Hyungwon is honed through several social events attended from his childhood.

Hyungwon gives a version of his own, less practiced but equally artificial.

“And then there were three. I am sorry for such a lonely welcome and,” Jackson's smile tightens, “such rude guests.”

Hyungwon gives a careless wave. “It’s fine.”

Jackson’s smile widens at the edges and his eyes take on an inquisitive look.

Hyungwon feels a shiver creep down his spine. Even though he makes himself not show a single sign of uneasiness, he can feel his heart beating faster.

It’s the way Jackson is looking at him. It reminds Hyungwon of the first time Jooheon had looked at him.

It’s not the same.

Not even close.

It’s entirely opposite if anything.

Jooheon looked - looks - at him with a passiveness. His eyes stay distant, his face blank as though even if he is studying Hyungwon, he has no personal interest in whatever he gathers but Jackson is looking at him as if he can easily see through Hyungwon’s shaky facade and he is completely invested in whatever lays underneath.

If Jooheon looks _through_ Hyungwon then Jackson is looking _into_ him.

Realistically, there’s no way Jackson can actually read his thoughts, not only because that’s not his power from what he gathered through reading his files and what Hyunwoo told him but also because - Hyungwon’s eyes fall on Jackson’s wrist - he is wearing a repel band of his own. Although, it’s entirely possible that it’s fake. After all, it’s his place, his guards, his repel bands.

Hyungwon looks up from Jackson's wrist to his face and catches a subtle smirk there, as if a glance down at his wrist was all Jackson needed to know what Hyungwon was thinking. And even if Hyungwon tells himself otherwise, the suspicions that Jackson can actually read his mind doesn’t leave him.

“Usually we have two more people at the table, both representatives of the mafia of the two neighboring cities, but they couldn’t come this time.”

“Why is that?” Hyungwon asks because Jackson looks at him as if he wants that question to be asked.

“Just FBI have been on their shit. And there’s a new attorney journal in the town and he has been hounding them. They are being called in all the time, not to mention, they are up to their necks in pesky wiretaps.”

“Sounds inconvenient.”

“Inconvenient.” Jung-il scoffs. “That’s one way to put it. It’s a real pain in the ass. Soon they are going to move to towns. I am just surprised they haven’t yet.”

“That’s a talk for another time. For now, let’s just focus on our small town and its new wonderboy," Jackson says.

Hyungwon arches his brow. “Wonderboy?”

“Why, of course! I have been hearing all about you purging and restructuring Emerald. Hoseok had been running it just fine then why the change, if I may ask?”

Hyungwon shrugs. “It was already planned. Hoseok was just an interim head. He was keeping my seat warm. He knew that. I knew that. The family knew that.”

Jackson twirls his glass, his eyes fixed on Hyungwon. “Given that maybe but why the restructuring?”

“Just adjusting it to keep up with the times. A little fine-tuning.”

“Is trying to stop child trafficking one of those adjustments because I am afraid that’s not a ‘little fine-tuning’, Hyungwon. That’s my whole business.” Jung-il cuts in, his shark-like grin pinning Hyungwon to the wall like a dead butterfly.

Stuck between these two men who have a lot more experience in looking through lies is where the real test lies. A little stutter, a slight fumble can bring this whole thing crashing down.

Even at the risk of getting eaten by the kings of the jungle, Hyungwon decides to show his injuries.

He scoffs. “As if. I am barely managing my family’s business as it is. It might have looked okay to you from a distance but believe me, the way Hoseok was managing it...” He slumps in his chair, a tired sigh leaving his lips, “It’s a complete mess. I am too busy sorting it out to even think about cutting into your business.”

Jung-il leans forwards. “Are you sure about that? Because I read your contracts and it clearly said that anyone who is caught being involved with child trafficking will be killed. That doesn’t sound like you being too busy to cut into my business.”

He showed his weakness and now to make sure, he doesn’t get mauled, he has to show that despite the injuries, he isn’t one to mess with.

He shrugs. “Given that ability-less people aren’t the most enthusiastic when it comes to issues that ability-users deal with; child trafficking being one of them, let’s not forget that most of the high positions are held by ability-users.

One day you are going to catch a kid whose father or mother is in a high position and all of your business is going to go down.” He leans forward to catch Jung-il’s eye. “I just don’t want my family to be caught up in that shit storm, that’s all.”

Jung-il narrows his eyes, not a tinge of friendliness on his face anymore. “We are very careful about our selections. We just target children that no one cares about.”

Hyungwon shrugs, conceding the point. A triumphant smirk creeps on Jung-il's lips but Hyungwon is the master of being right and obnoxious so he answers with a triumphant smirk of his own.

“Let me paint a picture for you." he begins. "One day, one of your goons is wandering the streets worried about not being able to fill his monthly quota of ability-user children. There he spots a child walking on the street, crying for his mommy, an ice-cream melting in his hand, dripping down his arms. What’s your favorite flavor?” Hyungwon cocks his head, turning up the obnoxiousness and yeah, he should keep it down but he knows what’s he doing - he looks at Jackson who is smiling in amusement - he knows who is the most powerful here and who he wants an alliance with.

Jung-il scoffs. “Just get on with it.”

Hyungwon raises his palms in surrender. “Just trying to paint a picture. Anyway, so he is eating a chocolate ice-cream cone. He is wearing blue shorts with an orange shirt and on his arm, there’s the government issued tattoo marking him as an ability-user and suddenly, your goon is thanking whatever God he believes in and kidnapping the child.

The next day, the news breaks out that the city's visiting governor’s child has been kidnapped and spotted on the market. And bam," Hyungwon thumps the table with his fist, "that’s all it takes.

It will start with a ripple, a little lobbying, some protests, a whole lot of public backlash, and you won’t be dealing with the local police and special unit that you have in your pocket but you’ll have the FBI and their ability-user unit targeting you and we all know, you are done for once that happens.” Hyungwon gives a grin, lazy and all-knowing. “Now I am not saying I’ll be enjoying it. We are all family here but I just don’t want to be anywhere close to your ship when it’s sinking.”

There’s a pin-drop silence in the lounge as Jung-il stares at Hyungwon, his mouth opening, and closing, looking for the right words, grasping them and then swallowing them back down.

“That’s...That’s not going to happen.” Jung-il finally says.

Hyungwon shrugs. “I am not saying it will. I am just saying that I don’t want to be there if it does. The optics would be harsh. The general public, as apathetic as it is about ability users, won’t tolerate such treatment of children. It will be all over the news. The press and the public will crucify you. Once that happens, no bribe will save you.” Hyungwon puts his cheek on his hand, elbow digging into the table. “Even prisoners don’t take nicely to criminals who do crimes against children.”

Jung-il’s face reddens and it’s such a mesmerizing sight that Hyungwon misses Jackson’s quick smile.

Jackson clears his throat and pats Jung-il on the back. “He is just giving an example, uncle. There’s no way that’s going to happen. Let’s not get stuck on hypotheticals. He doesn’t want to get involved with it, and that’s fine until he isn’t going out of his way to stop you from doing your business which he won’t do. Am I right in assuming that, Hyungwon?”

Hyungwon nods. “Yeah. Like I said, I don’t want to be involved. One way or another. So I won’t be meddling in. You can rest assured.”

“So there’s no morality here?” Jackson asks.

“No. I am just trying to run my business. Just keeping it out of what I think are risky ventures.”

Jackson raises his glass and Hyungwon follows. “Fair enough.”

Jung-il raises his glass too but his keen eyes say that he’ll be watching Hyungwon very carefully. “Just don’t meddle in and we will be okay.”

“Sounds great.”

***

During the dinner, they have a little chit chat. Jackson not-so-subtly asks him why he left and Hyungwon gives him a blasé “Just tried to kill my father. Typical teen rebellion but he overreacted and sent me away for a while, and then I was enjoying my freedom too much without his overbearing presence that I decided to stay for a little while more,” Jackson gives him an understanding nod while Jung-il doesn’t comment, just observes and calculates.

The next question comes from Jung-il who enquires into his relationship with Hoseok.

“I mean, why not come after your father’s death and take your rightful place?”

Hyungwon takes a sip of his wine and runs his knife through the tender chicken. “I had unfinished business where I was living and I needed some time to tie all the loose ends.” He gives a soft sigh, as if he is being forced to part with the information he is about to give. “To be honest with you, I wasn’t planning to come back as long as my father was heading the family. I had decided to start my own where I was living. Without my father’s intervention or connections. It was a slow grind but I had planted the seeds. So I had to handle that before coming here.”

Jackson takes a last bite and then wipes his lips with a tissue. “Hoseok had nothing to do with it?”

“No. He knows that I am more suited to this. He asked me if I wanted to come back and I said yes and that was all that was needed. Unlike my father, we understand each other.”

“So you are close to your brother?” Jung-il asks, his eager eyes betraying his casual tone.

“I wouldn’t say ‘close’. We have an understanding. We trust each other when it comes to business.”

“Interesting,” Jackson says, “I thought someone as morally upstanding as Hoseok would have a difficult relationship with someone as...opportunistic as you are.”

“We are not that different, he and I. He is a businessman with morals and I am just a businessman. He understands when morals need to take a backseat when it comes to business so we have no issues on that and even when we do, he knows what I say goes or else he is free to leave.”

Jackson nods, satisfied. “That’s the kind of understanding you need in your family.”

***

After their dinner ends, they get ready to leave. Jung-il excuses himself to go to the restroom, it’s then that Jackson makes his move.

He looks at Hyungwon, the mischievousness in his eyes that had been a constant through the night completely missing.

It’s as if he had been covering his face with a veil the whole time and it’s now that he decides to lift his veil up and show Hyungwon what lies beyond it.

“After the city, it’s our turn.”

Hyungwon nods.

“We have to avoid anything that puts a spotlight on us. Mafia should work in the shadows. That’s how your and my father worked and that’s how they managed to keep their families where they are.”

“For all my complaints with my father, when it comes to running his business, he knew exactly what he was doing.”

“Gang Wars in public places and child trafficking are the kinds of things that warrants the wrong kind of attention. Would you agree?”

“I agree.”

Jackson leans back in his seat, a satisfied look on his face, finger tap tap tapping on the table.

***

When Hyungwon gets back, it’s late. Hoseok, Hyunwoo and, surprisingly, Changkyun are waiting for him in his study.

“How did it go?” Hoseok asks, as soon as Hyungwon enters.

Hyungwon unbuttons the top button of his shirt and lets out a tired sigh. “Better than I thought. I’ll tell you about it in the morning. I am exhausted right now.”

“From what? Sitting and eating?” Hyunwoo teases with that straight face of his while getting up from his seat.

“Socializing,” Hyungwon says, and rubs his forehead.

Hyunwoo and Hoseok pat his back on their way out but Changkyun stays in his seat, His legs pressed against his chest and his chin propped on his knees, biting his lips, apparently deep in thought.

Hyungwon sits in his chair. “Can you do your thinking at your own place?”

Changkyun looks up, his lips chewed out. “I am worried about Minhyuk.”

Hyungwon closes his eyes and puts his head on the table, face down.

It’s been two weeks since he last saw Minhyuk.

In that time, Hyungwon has absolutely refused himself from indulging in any thought of Minhyuk. He lifts his head back up and props it in his hand, his elbow crushing the papers on the table. “What happened now?”

“He is acting weird.”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “He is just not like the other boys. He is quirky.”

Changkyun doesn’t smile, if anything his tone becomes more worried. “This is serious, Hyungwon. He has stopped bleaching his hair. His ginger roots are showing. He is getting dizzy spells, I know he is even though he isn’t telling me or Jooheon. That’s another thing, he has stopped confiding in us. He is barely eating anything. He is losing weight. He looks like he is in pain all the time. I am not even sure if he is taking his meds.”

Hyungwon looks at him sharply. “What do you mean by he is not taking his meds?”

“Whenever I give him his meds, he goes straight to the bathroom. I think he is making himself puke them out and then he is flushing them down the toilet.

He might be gaining his memories back. The other day, he was looking intently at his spoon when I had forced him to sit down with me and have some food. It was as if,” Changkyun looks into Hyungwon’s eyes, conveying his worry, “he was trying to move it.”

Hyungwon massages his head. “Does Hoseok know?”

“Yeah. He talked to Minhyuk and Minhyuk told him that he was just going through heartbreak and you know Hoseok, he bought it. I did too in the beginning but then this med thing happened and I thought, maybe I am imagining it but then the spoon incident..it’s just..maybe it’s in my head, but it’s just not sitting right with me. I think something is really wrong with him.

Today, I asked Jooheon to talk to him because Minhyuk listens to him better but Jooheon told me that the universe wants you to talk to Minhyuk and no one else can do anything. For once, the universe thinks what I was thinking so here I am asking you to please talk to him.”

There are so many thoughts buzzing through Hyungwon’s head, from fear to contempt for Jooheon and his fucking universe but whichever thread of thought he picks, the answer stays the same.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Hyungwon expects a sigh of relief, a thank you and then goodbye but Changkyun’s expression stays conflicted, wondering if he should say what he is about to say.

“Just spit it out.”

Changkyun takes a deep breath. “You know how I told you about my meeting with the guy from Jasper and the mysterious person who is probably behind leaking those files?”

Hyungwon straightens his back. “Yeah.”

“Did the guy say something useful?”

“He didn’t know anything. Just someday a person sent him this file, he received a phone call from a private number, giving him instructions on when and how to reach them if they found Ares. And the reward money if they caught Ares and punishment if they misled them. That’s all. Hyunwoo wiped part of his memory and sent him his merry way.” Hyungwon says, carefully choosing his words, Changkyun’s hesitance making his tone wary.

“You know how I have keen senses?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I know who the mysterious person is. Or at least, who did he smell like.”

Hyungwon’s eyes widen, excitement overcoming his fatigue. “Who?”

“Kihyun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "and he beat him and hung him by his thumbs from a meat hook, then allegedly wrapped a gauze bandage smeared with discharge from a gonorrhea infection over his eyes." Hyungsik's character is based on Dutch Schultz and these lines have been directly taken from his [Wikipedia Page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Schultz). 
> 
> Leave a comment, press a Like and use code "YOURAGOODBOI" to motivate me to write the next chapter sooner because in the next chapter Hyunghyuk bond and maybe fall in love.  
Twitter: [Goodboi](https://twitter.com/mellow_minhyuk) Curious Cat: [Goodestboi](curiouscat.me/MellowMinhyuk)


	7. Kamasutra For FBI?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To refresh your memory: Past - Hyungwon realizes that he unknowingly made a core-bond with Minhyuk.  
Present - Hyungwon calls Minhyuk an impotent virgin. Changkyun tells Hyungwon that the suspect smelled like Kihyun. 
> 
> Terms used (ability-user affirmative language): Regressives - People with inactive cores.  
Dominants - People with active cores.

**PAST**

Like everyone, Hyungwon doesn't remember much of his childhood. When he tries to recall his pre-Hoseok era which is the first 3-4 years of his life, he finds himself looking into a void.  
It’s like trying to chase the texture of cotton candy with your tongue but as soon as you put it in your mouth, the coveted texture melting away into a sweet burst of taste.

On that note, if you were to come up to Hyungwon with a suitcase full of gold bricks, issuing a challenge that if he were able to describe his mother, you’ll give it to him. He would put on a show, keep you there, hum and haw, trying to delve in and tinker with his brain, but he won't be able to recall his mama.

What he would do in that case though is shoot you in the head and take that suitcase anyway.

Why?

Because you aren’t family and strangers giving Hyungwon gold to recall his mother sounds like a trap to him. See? That's Hyungwon's father in him: vigilant and venomous.

Although - to give himself a little credit here - after that, he'll probably go and give your dependents some gold bars as a charity, that's the Hoseok in him.

And that's what Hyungwon is made of.

Two strong but contradictory voices: his father and his brother.

Notice how he didn't mention his mother? Also, notice how he doesn't even remember his mother's face or anything at all?

His mother died when he was 3 and a half. Now Hyungwon isn't one to throw accusations around but he is 70% sure that his father slowly poisoned her.

Actually, scratch that, he is 200% sure that his father did it. In fact, if there's one thing he is absolutely sure about his childhood, it's his father killing his mother.

Because here’s the thing: if you came up to his father and issued that same challenge to him, he would draw up a canvas and with painful perfection, he would paint a perfect portrait.

You’ll see its brilliance in its perfect strokes. It will visually titillate you while its rough texture will keep your fingertips arrested on the canvas. Lost in awe, you would ask his father to pick the suitcase and take it with him, your open mouth spewing compliments after compliments.

His father would comply, bowing his head bashfully. Humbly, he would take a gold brick out-

_and then bash your face in with it._

His face would be blank as he would slick his hair back, your blood dripping from his hand in thick droplets. With a habitual whistle, he would take a stroll on the bridge and with no sense of loss and guilt, he would throw that suitcase away in the river.

Why?

Just because he can.

He's that kind of person.

So, yeah, he is pretty sure that his mother "dying" of a "mysterious" poison is no mystery at all and his father did it.

But, he digresses, the point of the story isn't how his mother died (from a poison that his father injected into the peaches that his mother relished every day) or who killed him (his father) or why (because he got bored of his mother but he couldn’t divorce her if he wanted to keep the connections and the hefty dowry). The point of the story is that Hyungwon doesn't have any reliable references when it comes to parenting.

For the sake of Minhyuk's sanity, he is really hoping that he didn't inherit his father's methods of “parenting” which are lethal at best and downright traumatic at worst.

For instance, at the tender of age of 8, Hyungwon had managed to get his right leg fractured because he was a rebel and instigated a fight with a senior in the family in his 30s. In return for his courage, he got a fractured leg and instead of getting him a doctor ASAP, his father made him bandage it himself and fight again.

To his father’s credit, now Hyungwon can fight while limping. So what if his leg hurts badly during the winters, so what? It’s all good. Painkillers are there for a reason.

_(Fuck you, father.)_

As for his mama, she wasn't that great of a lass either if the few snatches of memory that he can recall of her mostly screaming at the help are anything to go by. Add to that, Hoseok's pained smile when Hyungwon asks about his mother, let's just say if she had managed to survive her father, Hyungwon would've become the world's youngest serial killer.

His signature would have been dyeing the hair of his victims neon colors.

Why has he given it thought? Once Kihyun had dyed his color bright pink and Hyungwon will refrain from commenting further from that.

Once Hyungwon had asked their old family cook what was his mother like, and the old man, stone-faced, had told him that his mother often threw hot coffee in his face when she didn't like something about it.

Hesitantly, he had asked, “Like what?” and in a robotic tone he had recited, “It is too cold, or hot, or sweet, or dark, or bitter. Once I served it in a yellow mug, she threw it in my face and broke it because she felt like I was being smug about my own ‘happy’ life and was purposefully trying to rub it in her face with colors like yellow.”

With a squint, he had added, “You look a lot like her.”

Hyungwon was convinced that the man was spitting in his food.

So, if you put all that mess aside, the only good parental figure that Hyungwon has is Hoseok whose initial strategy was to let the little, newly-orphaned brat run all over him and then when he'll finally take pity and let you help him, treat him with so much love and care that he'll develop an unhealthy attachment with you for life.

The actual point of the tirade is - Hyungwon takes a deep breath as he knocks on Kihyun’s door - he has no idea how to take care of Minhyuk and he is absolutely, petrifyingly aware of it.

***

Hyungwon shakes Minhyuk's body. "Minhyuk, come on! Wake up. I swear to God, someone could feed you to the vultures and you wouldn't know shit about it. You'll just see that you are missing a limb and go back to sleep."

Kihyun slaps the back of his head. "Why would you paint such a gory picture in an already traumatized child's mind?"

Hyungwon turns, his eyelashes curtaining his narrowed eyes. "He can't hear me."

"Listen, you little twat-"

A blue glow bursts out of Hoseok's hand and mingles with the sunlight in the room, Hoseok wraps the spectral chain around his wrist two times before dragging Egan, who came out in a cheetah form, towards him.

"Oh shit, Egan! Change into a puppy. You are going to scare him!" Hoseok exclaims, eyes nervously set on the maybe-alive-possibly-dead body of still sleeping Minhyuk.

Egan obliges with a tilt of her head and shrinks into a small puppy. Hoseok's hold relaxes and with a casual flick of his hand, the chain unwraps from his wrist. The puppy jumps on its spot, Hoseok picks it up and puts it in front of Kihyun who coos at it.

Hyungwon groans. "How do you always get distracted by the same trick?"

Kihyun pets the puppy’s head. "Because I am a human with human emotions who is fairly low on the sociopathy spectrum?"

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Hoseok puts Egan on the bed. She slips on the cushiony mattress and with a prattle falls down on her rump. Hyungwon clutches his heart, ignoring Kihyun's smug look. Egan gets up again and dawdles towards Minhyuk's face and starts licking it.

Nothing happens.

Hyungwon twists his wrist and Egan changes into a kitten and starts meowing.

Nothing happens.

Egan puts her little paws on Minhyuk's hand and scratches it.

"EGAN!" Hoseok shouts in surprise.

Minhyuk wakes up with a jolt and the ground beneath them starts shaking.

Kihyun winces. "I know that I can't get my security deposit back now but still..."

Before Hyungwon can show his beautiful and apparently child-friendly face to Minhyuk and calm him, Minhyuk spots Egan through blurry eyes. The shaking stops and Kihyun breathes out a sigh of relief.

Sitting up, Minhyuk rubs his eyes. He looks at the scratch on his hand dispassionately. Eyes blinking slowly, he puts his palm above Egan's head who, like the little show-off she is, jumps to headbutt it. Minhyuk's eyes go big in awe and his little palms scoop the kitten up, narrow hooded eyes meeting Egan’s wide ones.

"Hello." A whisper comes from his mouth.

Egan meows.

And then magic happens.

Minhyuk's cheeks rise to celebrate the little spark of joy that goes through his heart, his eyes squint like crescent moons and the curtain of his lips parts to show his small pearly teeth, the front ones too big for his small face - for his sake, Hyungwon is hoping that he'll grow into them - while his gums peek out shyly.

Overall, a sunshine smile.

Hyungwon rates it 100-AWW! out of 10.

A dramatic gasp comes from beside him. Hyungwon doesn't have to guess that it’s Hoseok.

Hoseok clasps Kihyun's hand. "Is it me or should we get married immediately and adopt a kid?"

Kihyun gives him an awkward smile, his face conflicted. "Yeah. We can do that- in the- in the future?"

Hoseok lets Kihyun's hand drop and rubs the back of his head. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

As much Hyungwon likes to stir the pot, there are times when you have to back off lest your brother throws a fit because his boyfriend is commitmentphobic and for Hoseok, the Nile is not a river but a state-of-mind.

A childish giggle comes from the bed. Instead of a little kitten in Minhyuk's palm, now there is a huge wolf rubbing Minhyuk's cheek with its muzzle.

Hoseok sighs. "Egan, why are you not listening to me today?"

Kihyun wraps an arm around Hoseok's waist. "That usually happens when you are stressed. Is something the matter?"

Hoseok shakes his head.

_Ugh._

_Fuck you and your drama._

"Hoseok thinks that you have fallen out of love and you are just staying with him to not hurt him or else you would have proposed or some shit since he has always made his intentions clear about having a future with you, while you, like now, keep deflecting him. That's why," Hyungwon arches a brow, "he is stressed."

"Hyungwon, you!"

In his periphery, Hyungwon sees Egan turning her head towards Hoseok, Minhyuk's little head tilting in the same direction following her line of sight.

Kihyun turns Hoseok towards him. "Is this true?"

Hoseok presses his lips and shuffles on his feet, for a moment Hyungwon thinks that he is going to deny it but with a determined look on his face, Hoseok raises his head. "Yeah."

Kihyun shakes his head, a relieved smile on his face. "Is that it? Of course, you dumb baby! Of course, I am going to spend my life with you. How is that even a question? I fucking love you unconditionally, you freak. We are going to get married and adopt kids and pets and travel around the world once we are out of your mafia family shit."

"That doesn't sound like unconditional love to me," Hyungwon says under his breath.

Hoseok smiles, bashful, innocent eyes sparkling. "Yeah? When we are out of here, we should adopt Minhyuk!"

"We should!"

"Uh. Loving all of this, honestly. But, Hoseok if you don't control Egan right now, pretty sure you won't have a Minhyuk to adopt."

On the bed, there is an elephant, hanging from its trunk upside-down is Minhyuk who is swinging back and forth with a dangerous velocity. In an alarming showcase of lack of survival instinct, instead of screaming, the boy has his eyes closed, a serene smile on his face as if he is on a swing on a windy day.

"Oi! Egan, you chimp!"

***

Sitting in the middle of the bed is a pouty Minhyuk, sulky after Hoseok retreated Egan and he is now alive but pet-less.

"Okay!" Hyungwon claps his hands. "This is such an exciting day for us. From today, we are starting anew, and to mark that, you need to take a bath."

"Ideally, you should take baths regularly ‘beginning anew or not’,” Kihyun intervenes.

“Yeah, I guess,” Hyungwon says dismissively. “Now Hoseok here is going to take you to the bathroom where you can do your little business, brush your teeth, and take a shower. Clear?”

Minhyuk cocks his head. “Clear?”

Hyungwon and Hoseok share a look. “No, I am asking _you_. Is it clear to you? To Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk bites his lip and looks up. “Yes?”

“Great!” Hyungwon trills and with a definitive stride starts going out of the room.

Hoseok grabs him by the collar and spins him around. “He is lying because he thinks that’s what you want to hear.”

“Ugh! Why can’t you do it?”

“He will not go with me!”

Hyungwon gives Minhyuk a motherly smile. If you were to put his face under a microscope, in every cell, you’ll find a picture of Mother Teresa trying her very best to shrug off responsibility. “Minhyuk, go with Hoseok.”

Minhyuk takes a step forward and grabs Hyungwon’s hand, an accomplished expression on his face.

Hyungwon sighs and brings up his other hand to pat Minhyuk’s head but then retracts it. He looks at Hoseok and Kihyun. “I shouldn’t reward bad behavior, right?”

Hoseok and Kihyun give him a thumbs-up, the former sincere while the latter mocking.

Kihyun goes down to make some breakfast while Hyungwon and Hoseok enter the bathroom to explain to a 10-year-old the contraptions of civilization in a developed country.

“So, let’s break this down. The first step, you take care of your business.” Behind him, Hoseok touches his forehead, his face twisted in pain. “Then, you come out of the bathroom and we go in again to brush your teeth - until you learn how to do that yourself, this is not a lifetime offer, okay? - then you go take a shower. Now see, showering is simple. I do it every day with my eyes closed….” He explains how to turn the shower on and off and everything in between. He points at the towel hanging. “..and then you dry off your body and hair. After that, you wrap it around your waist and come out. There will be clothes waiting for you on the bed, you wear it and then like a good boy, you come down to eat your breakfast. Clear?”

Minhyuk nods hesitantly and Hyungwon, afraid of the alternatives, takes it.

“Okay, go ahead then,” Hyungwon announces like he is sending his son to a war instead of sending Minhyuk to a toilet.

Minhyuk stays there.

“I think you should be clearer with your instructions. He is used to a different routine.” Hoseok says kindly.

_What the fuck?_

_How can you make this simpler?_

“Go take a shit, young man?” Hyungwon hazards.

Hoseok groans behind him but magic manifests itself again as, like a rusty out-of-order machine, Minhyuk’s body starts moving with a creak. Hyungwon smiles happily, feeling like he is in a dream.

The dream quickly turns into a nightmare because instead of moving towards the toilet-seat, the young man in question starts moving towards the bucket under the tap.

“Oh my god!” Hoseok screams.

On his toes, Hyungwon grabs Minhyuk who has one hand on his pajamas, ready to take it off.

His heart beating fast, he hugs Minhyuk.

You truly don’t know the turn life can take.

One day you are rescuing a little boy who only had one mattress and a bucket in terms of amenities and then the next day, he is shitting in your almost brother-in-law’s bucket who then turns you in to other mafia families so that you can be tortured to a painful death.

“Oh fuck, that was so scary.” He pulls back and shakes Minhyuk, who like a lone plant on a windy day sways dramatically. “We could have died, Minhyuk! Don’t do that ever again.”

Minhyuk nods like he doesn’t understand but if the crazy man says so, he’ll do it.

“You need to give him exact instructions, Hyungwon! We could have died just now. Kihyun will not hesitate to break up with me over this.”

“Oh, I believe you.”

He bends down on his knees, the cold tiles of the bathroom floor accepting his prayers. The time to play games is in the past. This is about life and death now.

He holds Minhyuk’s shoulders. “Listen, Minhyuk, are you listening?”

Minhyuk nods.

“So I don’t want you to do anything that you did while you were living with those bad men which includes shitting in a bucket. Instead, go back a little and think about how you lived before that.” He turns his head towards the toilet-seat and Minhyuk follows his line of sight. “Can you remember how to use that now?”

Minhyuk pouts, thinking. The nod that comes after that is more confident and eager.

Hyungwon gets up with a relieved sigh and pats Minhyuk’s head. “Glad we could recall some...sweet memories from your past.”

After a final pat on the head, Hyungwon and Hoseok turn around, ready to walk out. They take a step and then look at each other. They turn back around and find Minhyuk looking vaguely in the right direction - which is not at the bucket - and squinting his eyes like he is trying to solve an algebraic equation.

“I think you should explain it. Just to refresh his memory.”

“Yeah, that seems...prudent.”

“...and then you press this to flush it,” Hyungwon says as Minhyuk stares at the toilet paper that Hyungwon had thrown in for demonstration vanishing, the awe in his eyes makes Hyungwon feel like he is part of a tragicomedy. “That’s a very important step, Minhyuk. In fact, none of these steps are skippable, okay?”

Minhyuk nods, his face flat but determined to impress.

“Best of luck, Minhyuk,” Hoseok says behind him, his tone sincere.

_Life and death._

“You can do it. I have trust in you.”

***

Fortunately, Minhyuk proves himself to be capable of following instructions, and no buckets and floors are harmed. After that, Hyungwon brushes Minhyuk’s teeth with the same lethargic enthusiasm he reserves for his own and sends Minhyuk to take a bath.

He opens his bag and lays out a pajama set on the bed.

Against all his fashion instincts, he also puts a red cap on the bed because that was the only specific thing that Minhyuk had asked for.

Now he is lying on the bed, ears open to hear any disturbance inside when Hoseok joins him and lies on the bed beside him, both of their torsos on the bed, legs hanging, feet on the floor.

“You know that wasn’t cool. I told you those things in confidence,” Hoseok says quietly.

“Yeah, I am sorry but I just felt like I was in a soap-opera where the main pair’s relationship was frizzling out because of a stupid misunderstanding.”

Hoseok sighs. “I get that but still it wasn’t your secret to share.” He turns his face sideways, seeking Hyungwon’s eyes. “Some things are not yours to share.”

“I am sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I trust you.”

“And I trust you.”

Hoseok sits up and pats Hyungwon’s knees. “Even if it’s you, break it again,” his voice flattens, “and I won’t be so kind.”

He walks away after giving Hyungwon a blank smile. Hyungwon stares at his back in confusion, an uneasy feeling that he never associates with his brother creeping down his spine.

***

Minhyuk comes down the stairs, his clothes only a little wet, showing the tremendous success he has achieved with a towel. Hyungwon looks up proud.

Besides him, Hoseok sighs. "He is wearing his clothes wrong."

Hyungwon blinks and then squints. "No?"

"It’s all inside out."

Yup, he sees it now.

"Maybe he is an artist who is expressing his life getting turned on its head for the umpteenth time through the 'wrongness' of his clothes, have you thought of that?"

Hoseok laughs. "Maybe you missed your calling as a publicist."

"Yeah, well, I took a career test and they said I am more fit for killing people and doing illegal activities at the whim of my psychopathic father."

"Considering that you dropped out, it is your only option now, so good job."

Hyungwon leans back in his chair, not taking the bait. Like mold, they have beaten this topic to something soft and malleable. Now even a slight touch leaves a clear fingerprint.

Hyungwon is done with ruining his relationship with his brother for today so he lets it slide.

He doesn’t acknowledge the vague feeling of uneasiness from earlier still swirling in his chest.

It’s not even what Hoseok said but rather the way he said it: in a low voice and a slight whisper. It was deliberate and clearly thought out.

Hoseok rarely takes that tone with him and if he chooses to do so, the message is clear: listen and never forget.

And Hyungwon did listen: break Hoseok’s trust and there would be serious consequences.

Minhyuk sits on the chair beside him even though Hoseok gives him an inviting smile and Hyungwon takes a smug pride in that.

Some people (his brother) have a Master’s degree in Business Administration while others (Hyungwon) have an unintentional core-bond with a reserve of immense power and an unstable ticking time-bomb. Clearly, they have chosen slightly different paths in life.

"You like your new cap?" Hyungwon lightly touches it and Minhyuk gives him a shy nod.

"Great. You like your new clothes?"

Minhyuk looks down at his pajama set. It's dark blue with a pattern of small white whales on it. Since other than the red cap, Hyungwon had no idea what to buy, he basically picked every piece of cloth in Minhyuk's size that had a whale on it, and then broadened it to 'sea category' which then turned into 'animal kingdom category'.

"It's pretty."

"I am glad that you like it. Did you see the whale plushie on the bed? I got the biggest one for you and a small portable one."

Minhyuk's eyes widen and he whips his head around as if expecting the whale plushie to come to life and fight against the separation caused by puny things like eating and taking a bath.

He gets up abruptly. Hyungwon catches his wrist. "It's okay! It's not running away. You can go look at it after we have breakfast." He gently drags him down and Minhyuk sits down hesitantly. “I am surprised that you missed it. One of them is...sizeable.”

“He probably came running down straight out of the bathroom since that’s what you said to him,” Hoseok says with a fond smile on his face, his chin resting on his hand.

Hyungwon sighs. “He is hopeless.”

“No one is hopeless,” Kihyun says as he puts the jug on the table. He looks at the setting of the dinner table and nods approvingly before bending down and dropping a kiss on Hoseok’s head.

Hyungwon rolls his eyes and picks up the ladle to put some soup in Minhyuk’s bowl. Minhyuk tugs at his arm and points at the bread and the jam, two things Hyungwon had asked Kihyun to put there as an afterthought.

“You want that?”

“Yes. That’s preferable.” Minhyuk says eagerly while adjusting his cap.

***

Between Minhyuk using a bucket like it is intended to be used, drying himself properly after a bath, brushing his teeth himself, wearing his clothes the right way (alas, another artist forced to color between the lines!) growing more comfortable with Hoseok (thanks to Egan) and Kihyun (thanks to good meals), diligently pouring himself into his daily study sessions with Kihyun (probably out of fear of being thrown out if he didn’t), showing his full marks in a test proudly to Hoseok and hugging him for the first time followed by him hugging Kihyun who healed him when he scraped his knee and most importantly, 25 days of him not using his power subconsciously, even while waking up, before Hyungwon knows, a month passes.

Hyungwon’s fear of discovery, of him ruining Minhyuk by his lacking guardianship, of Minhyuk not recovering physically and mentally and of him being tempted to tap into Minhyuk’s power all dwindle as he sees Minhyuk grow.

His hair growth stays stunted but it doesn’t matter when everything about him starts to gain life. He gains some weight, a rosy flush on his cheeks now. His skin still looks tight and plastic thin but compared to before, the glowy sheen on it feels like an achievement. He is still exhausted all the time but there’s some energy there. There’s a little more laughter and little less fear.

Once he even whines about not wanting to study and Hyungwon feels a helium balloon burst inside him, carrying him upwards towards the fluffy clouds because Minhyuk sounded like a normal kid.

But, he is not.

He is not a normal child with a normal childhood.

That’s proven by the frequent nightmares he has during the night, something that no matter how many whale night lights they buy, doesn’t subside.

In the beginning, it leaves Hyungwon fidgety for the whole day until he talks to Hoseok and realizes that the vague feeling of fear and anxiety inside his chest isn’t his own but Minhyuk’s.

Once he realizes that, with Hoseok and Kihyun’s help, Hyungwon learns to separate his own feelings from the snatches of his core-twin’s. They both, Hyungwon realizes a few days in with his lessons with Hoseok, have a different feel to them.

Hyungwon visualizes his own as gelatinous and white while Minhyuk’s as cloudy and black, while Hyungwon’s stay concentrated in one point, Minhyuk’s spread far easily, like smoke in the wind.

The classification helps him identify and separate but the irrational anxiety doesn’t subside.

For Hyungwon, who has always walked into every room like he owns every brick of it, the feeling of anxiety and fear is alien and thus even more unbearable to deal with. It expands and contracts as he goes about his day but much like the feeling of wholeness that comes with a core-bond, it always stays there.

In a way, it’s like he has a bag full of cotton on his back, he goes about his life normally with it, it’s there but it’s light and bearable and then one misstep and he has fallen into a river. Now it’s drenched with water, its weight has increased exponentially. He is left feeling soggy and heavy. Ruined. Unable to swim. Drowning.

The even more frustrating thing is not knowing what’s that misstep is going to be. It’s like his steel heart has suddenly turned into a tissue. Even small meaningless incidents leave him reeling.

A stupid misstep while climbing the pipes shouldn’t be distracting enough to derail his whole task of climbing a building to steal a wax stamp from a government office.

And sometimes there doesn’t even have to be a “misstep”.

During the nights, before sleeping, like a rogue river, the anxiety carves its own tributaries and takes over his whole body - flowing from his chest to every part - turning his limbs heavy until all he can do is lie in his bed with his eyes closed, his heart beating fast, his brain catastrophizing everything.

Even when the river dries, the land stays wounded, its dent seemingly permanent and all Hyungwon can feel is the conspicuous emptiness inside him when he wakes up. He curls into himself and stares blankly at the wall because the carnivorous void inside him is empty and it wants something, maybe Hyungwon himself.

He goes about his day because it’s his shift to guard the warehouse with Hyunwoo. He tries but the feeling becomes so much that he has to take a break to cry in an empty bathroom and only then he finds a little room to breathe, the void satisfied for a while. But because he can’t have anything nice, Hyungwon’s arm hits the gate and the pain that goes through him is as if he has been hit there by brick after brick. It’s not normal.

Suddenly, Minhyuk’s eyes tearing up when he had hit the door much like Hyungwon did right now makes sense.

How is Minhyuk doing it? How is he living with so much pain? How is he managing to keep mum about it? If Hyungwon wasn’t feeling the echo of his pain in him, he would have never guessed the suffering that Minhyuk is going through.

How is Minhyuk managing to get up every day instead of just spending his days crying into his pillow like Hyungwon wants to?

Hyungwon ponders on all these questions while starting his day with puking, his mind running a mile, working extra hard to catastrophize everything.

He knows that he can’t afford to be so distracted especially during his missions but it’s so hard to cope. He needs a break to adjust because overnight, the feelings and pain inside him has multiplied and he needs time.

But he can’t if he wants his daily short trips to Minhyuk to continue without making his father suspicious over his newly acquired love for “jogging”. It’s only these many times that he can actually jog for around two hours to throw off his father’s lackeys when they decide to follow him in the hopes that they’ll catch him slacking off or conspiring and would get their name jotted in his father’s not-naughty list.

It’s during a mission with Hyunwoo where an ability-user almost torns his arm off and Hyunwoo saves him at the last moment that he realizes he might have bitten more than he could chew.

Hyunwoo, silent and understanding, doesn’t ask much when Hyungwon tells him to take him somewhere that is not his house. His arm is bleeding badly and considering his weak mental state, Kihyun’s address is almost on the tip of his tongue but he resists and instead makes Hyunwoo call Kihyun to the place he is taking him.

He bites his lip, the pain white-hot and stinging as Hyunwoo drapes him over his shoulders and swiftly moves towards his car. Somewhere between whimpering as Hyunwoo stuffs him in the backseat to Hyunwoo quietly cursing while starting the car, Hyungwon passes out.

When he comes to, there is a burning sensation in his arm, a light scar replacing the deep cut. He looks around in relief because this has Kihyun written all over it.

He spots Hyunwoo and Kihyun standing in front of a bookcase in the corner of the large hall, their back to him, Kihyun’s head angled up as his eyes sweep over the colorful spines.

“...Yeah, Hoseok and I are thinking of adopting a kid too.”

”Oh? Someone from here?”

“Hoseok already has someone in mind.”

“You don’t seem happy about it.”

“Let’s just say if he adopts the kid, then we are forever stuck in this mafia bullshit.”

Hyungwon shifts and a twinge of pain shoots through his arm, a moan escapes him. Kihyun turns around, his wide eyes giving away his surprise.

Hyungwon tries to get up but sits down again with a wince. “Where am I?”

“Oh, it’s-” Kihyun begins and then looks sideways at Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo gives him an amused expression. “It’s okay. You can tell him.”

“We are in an orphanage for ability-users.”

“Oh?” Holding his injured arm, he looks around curiously.

It’s a two-story building and they are in the main hall which is wide and spacey. They are sitting on a sprawling sofa set, there's a TV in front of him. He looks to his left and there are boxes full of toys stacked in line on some mats.

"Where are the children?"

"At school? You know that place you had the privilege to go to but you were too busy doing crimes so you squandered it away like the privileged brat you are?"

Hyungwon smiles. "Yeah? 'At school' would have been enough. Clearly, they didn't teach you brevity wherever you went."

"At least, I went to one-"

"How are you feeling, Hyungwon? You really scared me there." Hyunwoo interrupts, his brows furrowed in concern as he takes a seat beside Hyungwon.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Hyungwon feels his chest and finds it lighter. He looks up, excited. "I actually feel great right now."

Finally, he has gained some control, build up an immunity, closed off the gate and the borrowed anxiety has ebbed away.

"That's great," Hyunwoo says with a soft smile. His gaze flits upwards at Kihyun who has his arms crossed, eyes blankly staring at Hyungwon in disappointment before settling back on Hyungwon. "Is everything,” he presses his lips, uncharacteristic hesitance on display, "...okay at home? You seem really distracted these days."

Kihyun looks at Hyunwoo in surprise. "He does?"

Hyunwoo hears Kihyun's tone and gives Hyungwon an apologetic look.

Hyungwon leans back, legs and arms sprawled, a subject of affected leisure as he tries to hide his pain. Kihyun missed his hurt ankle. "Why, yes, I am very much distracted. I am 14 after all, all these pesky hormones and the eventual cataclysm of acnes." A loud exhale. "I am growing old so also a bit worried about arthritis and dementia."

Kihyun turns away, his mouth twisted in disgust. "How can someone like Hoseok raise something like you goes beyond me."

Hyungwon shrugs. “I am an enigma."

"I know puberty can be a bit overwhelming especially since you aren't spending time with teens your age, so it can even feel like an isolated experience." Hyunwoo begins sincerely. Even Kihyun doesn’t hold back his snort as he looks at the solemn expression on Hyunwoo's face. "But I want you to know everything that you are going through is normal. You know...actually, wait a minute." Facing the bookshelf, Hyunwoo stretches his arm upwards. “We keep them out of reach of the other children.”

“What? A sock? While I appreciate the gesture, I don’t think that’s appropriate. I will buy one while keeping you in mind though.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Kihyun asks.

“Not without some dough.” Hyungwon rubs his thumb and index finger.

“Here.” Hyunwoo hands two books to Hyungwon who hesitantly takes it. "That should cover it. All the normal mental and physical health and puberty stuff in this one and all the core stuff is in the other one."

He looks at Hyungwon in anticipation, his face so eager to help the 14-year teenager who is working alone among adults, trying hard to keep up with the hardened criminals, no normal teenager things to be found anywhere.

And Hyungwon gets it, you see someone young and helpless and your heart twists, it's a special brand of imported pity that is only reserved for people who you deem weak. That's why children are so popular in the beggar community.

But Hyungwon is anything but helpless. If he went to the beggar community, his resume would be found lacking.

It's not easy to work in the mafia when you are so young. Hyungwon started as an errand boy, and to an extent he still is, but he has worked hard to lead the missions and gang wars that his father had thrown at him like a thoughtless crumb of bread you throw at a bird.

He has worked hard, and his father has never accounted for his age. Like any other member of their family, the missions that he has gone on were tailored to his ability and skills but never age. And he'll give it to his father for treating him as any other junior in their family.

A little nepotism but no pity. None.

So, pardon him, for feeling irritated by this little act of charity.

He represses his annoyance because Hyunwoo did save him and he can't exactly fault him for looking at an alienated teenager doing high-risk jobs because he was born in the wrong family as just that: an alienated teenager doing high-risk jobs because he was born in the wrong family.

His pride pushes against his throat but he swallows it down. "Thanks." He presses his lips and mutters under his breath. "But what I actually need is a vacation."

Hyunwoo, observant, sharp, and apparently a lip reader catches it. "Vacation? I can do that."

Hyungwon straightens in surprise. "Huh?"

"Yeah. Your father assigned me a mission in Sarvia. I was raised there so I know the streets and the main players pretty well. He told me to take any junior with me." An easy shrug. "You can come with me. It's essentially a one-man mission but I will need back-up. I won't need you all the time, you can think of it like a semi-vacation. Sarvia is a beautiful place."

"Yeah, it is." Hyungwon says. He is touched, honestly. Hyunwoo and he has worked together for many missions and while they have never crossed that professional boundary and become friends, whenever they have to choose someone to partner with, they choose each other.

They are wonderfully compatible, one filling what the other lacks, not only in terms of ability but also in combat. But what makes Hyunwoo stand out in Hyungwon’s mind is, as Hyungwon's intact arm would suggest, Hyunwoo has always looked out for him.

Even now, he didn't mention even once how his distraction could have compromised the mission or Hyunwoo himself. He is worried about Hyungwon’s health instead. What’s wonderful is it’s not just empathy, it’s also cold practicality: solve Hyungwon’s problem to get him back on track, as simple as that.

A vacation with him at Sarvia, the coastal land with its tall temples, sprawling hills and rolling valleys that must be carpeted with blooming flowers around this time of the year sounds wonderful but, alas - he looks down at the book and then back at Hyunwoo - he has shit to take care of here.

"Thanks but I am alright, honestly. The books are enough. I really appreciate it." He gets up with a grunt, books in hand, his ankle throbs as he puts some pressure on it but it's bearable, nothing painkillers and a good night's sleep won't cure.

Hyunwoo nods. "Sleep over it but there's no pressure. If it's your father that you are worried about then that's taken care of as well. We have partnered for so many missions, he won't be suspicious if I ask for you. He needs someone that he can trust and who can he trust more than his son?"

"The answer is himself so be careful what you wish for." Hyungwon prophesizes and gives a two-finger salute in farewell.

"I'll see you then." Kihyun starts following a limping Hyungwon out.

"Yeah. It's a pity that you couldn't see Jooheon today."

Hyungwon stops and turns back. Besides him, Kihyun stills.

Quick to pick up the non-verbal cues, especially the ones that tell him that Kihyun is in deep shit, Hyungwon realizes that his silence is utterly imperative to Hyunwoo's hospitality towards Kihyun right now. Unexpectedly, he decides to keep mum. Kihyun did help him out, after all.

"Yeah. I'll come back on Sunday."

"Please do."

***

Kihyun slows down the car as a speed breaker appears. The slight bounce snaps Hyungwon out of the drowsy spell he had fallen into after taking the painkiller. Still half-asleep, he looks out, the street signs tell him that they are almost there and by "there" he means Kihyun's place.

"Why are we going to your place?"

Kihyun startles and perhaps, Hyungwon should be more concerned about his safety considering Kihyun had been driving while completely zoned out.

"God, you surprised me. Yeah, Hoseok called me. He needs us there."

"Did something happen to Minhyuk?"

"Yeah. I think so but he didn't tell me anything over the phone. He did say not to worry. He got it under control and Minhyuk is asleep now."

Hyungwon relaxes. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah."

As if he is watching a movie on fast-forward, they pass the rows of trees alongside the road quickly or maybe it's the trees that are passing them by, probably running away from Hyungwon and the magnet of destruction that he has become these days. He is never doing a good deed ever again.

"Does Jooheon live in the orphanage? Is that where you met him?"

"No. I found him on the streets. Actually, he found me on the streets."

"Elaborate."

"I was going somewhere - I don't remember where - and someone tugged on my sleeves. I turned back and, at first, I didn't even see him. It was really dark. The tugging continued until I looked down and there he was." Kihyun smiles softly, lost in the memories. "So small and stoic. Even at a glance, I could tell that he had an active core, a powerful active core. I wouldn't call it a gut feeling but when you meet someone with a strong core, you just know. You must feel it too.” Hyungwon nods, he felt it with Minhyuk. “I had the same feeling when I met Hoseok, you and then Hyunwoo. But Jooheon...I had never felt that much power from someone, much less a child. The closest that comes to that strength is Minhyuk.” His smile turns wistful. “They both are otherworldly in a way, right? Anyway, there I was, on an empty road, on the night of a new-moon, looking down at this strange kid, paralyzed by his powerful presence. I was so scared of the possibilities. Quietly, he had said: "Could you drop me to the nearest orphanage? Please and thank you." Kihyun laughs abruptly. "Oh my god, even though I was there, it feels so surreal! As if I am spinning a story on the go but this is what actually happened."

Kihyun says the story sounds surreal but for Hyungwon, it fits perfectly with the picture of Jooheon that he has in mind. All the keywords are there: otherworldly, powerful, paralyzed. All three seem to be following Jooheon.

In a way, the story is a bizarre parallel to his first meeting with Minhyuk: otherworldly, powerful, paralyzed.

Hyungwon can't shake the feeling that he should drop everything in his life and just look for pieces of Jooheon, and once he has the complete picture, all the puzzle pieces aligned perfectly, he will have his answers.

All the answers.

He will know why Hyungwon was born even when his parents didn't want a child, he will know why Hoseok took care of Hyungwon because he made a promise to a woman who treated him so horribly, he will know why at the last moment he was chosen to head the war against Amethyst that had started all of this even though he was supposed to be on an out-of-state mission with Hyunwoo, he will know why Minhyuk chose him to tie his core-thread with, he will know why, among all the people in the entire world, did Jooheon come up to Kihyun.

It all feels too predetermined for his comfort. The feeling that fate has already chosen a path for him and all of this is leading up to something is irrational yet he can't help but feel like this.

While he is thinking that he is doing all of this out of his own free will, what if he is nothing more than a puppet being manipulated by the universe?

But even more irrational is the thought that Jooheon knows it and if Hyungwon manages to unlock Jooheon's mind, he'll know it too.

"Hyungwon?"

Hyungwon looks at Kihyun who is staring at him in confusion. Snatching his gaze away, he looks out of the car, the red of the traffic light catching his eye.

A girl, younger than Jooheon and Minhyuk, goes from car to car, shaking her empty bowl, a government-issued modular band on her wrist that limits one’s ability catches Hyungwon’s eye.

At the age of 18, she’ll be evaluated and if she is still below the poverty line with no prospects for a “fruitful” future, she would be considered a threat to the society and her core would be neutralized permanently.

_A system designed to fail the poor ability-users and strip them of their being as soon as it’s “ethical”_, Hyungwon recalls Hoseok saying.

The kid catches Hyungwon’s eyes and gestures that she needs money for food, rubbing her concave stomach. Hyungwon averts his eyes.

_The universe is shit, to be honest._

Sometimes things happen and in hindsight, they all seem fateful but that says more about ourselves than fate. Surely, Hyungwon's universe and Hoseok's Gods have more important things to do.

_Like being apathetic to their cause and needs?_

The light turns green. Like everyone else, they leave the girl behind.

"So that's how you found the orphanage?"

"Yeah. I kept coming back to ask after him and then before I knew, I started volunteering there."

"Hoseok doesn't know, does he?"

"He knows that I volunteer at an orphanage but he doesn't know where."

"Why is that?"

"Initially, it was to keep it away from Emerald or any other gang-"

"Hyunwoo is there."

"Yes, like I said 'initially'. Hyunwoo was working as a school teacher at the time but then things happened and Hyunwoo needed money to keep the orphanage going."

"He is the owner?" Hyungwon asks, surprised. As he is getting to know more about Hyunwoo, his image matches more with that of a school teacher rather than a mafia junior.

"He owned the previous orphanage building and pretty much managed everything there. We bought a new house and we have more volunteers and workers now but at the time, it was one decrepit house full of dominant orphan children managed only by Hyunwoo and his grandma who died shortly after I met them."

"I feel like he got involved with Emerald because of you?"

Kihyun expression is taut, hiding his regret. "As I said, things happened and both Hyunwoo and I put so much personal money in there. We got some other people to donate - your brother included - and we even tried to organize a fundraiser. With our inexperience, it's difficult to do as it is but it's almost impossible when it's the welfare of ability-users we are talking about. Even children. Then, we got the news that the ability-user orphanages had to meet certain standards within 3 months or else they would be closed. Standards like it should be situated away from the main city to ensure 'public safety', all bullshit, all meant to keep us in the corners and poor but it was what it was and we had to act fast. We didn't see many options, Hyungwon."

_A system designed to oppress us, Hyungwon. To keep us in the sidelines. A system that made our grandfather and many others go underground and start gangs, families, mafia._

A revelation dawns on Hyungwon. "Is that why you started healing and treating the gangs?"

"Yeah. It was quick and great money but it wasn't enough and that's when Hyunwoo decided to join the mafia. I tried to dissuade him but I didn't have much ground to argue on considering what I was doing. The least I could do was get him in a gang that I had an in with."

A question arises, unbidden but important. “That kid there at the traffic light? Can...you take her in?”

Kihyun’s guilty face answers before he can. “I wish I could but we aren’t legally allowed to take on even one more kid. I can’t risk them all for one.” He gives Hyungwon a hopeful smile. “But we are saving up to buy another house, get more workers. Your brother donated a huge amount, I am planning to involve him more with this one. We are half-way through our goal financially. We won’t stop until we can help every kid like her.”

Maybe it's the tiredness, maybe it's the pain or maybe it's the way Kihyun looks so determined but Hyungwon feels proud. He feels so fucking proud of Kihyun. "Sometimes I forget how kind you are."

Kihyun smiles crookedly. "Yeah? Well, I can understand that. Sometimes I forget how young you are. When Hyunwoo said '14-years-old', I thought, 'What?'. I was honestly so shocked even though I knew it in the back of my mind. I mean it wasn't long ago when you were around Minhyuk’s age, threatening me in this squeaky little voice: 'Stay away. I am going to marry Hoseok!'."

Hyungwon puts his face in his hands and groans. "Oh my god, shut up!" He can't believe among all the memories that his brain decided to preserve, it decided to pick this one because unfortunately, he remembers this one vividly.

After his "threat", he had actually asked Hoseok to marry him in front of Kihyun. Hoseok had teasingly rejected him. He had thrown a tantrum until Kihyun had performed a fake marriage ceremony because Hyungwon had a point to prove.

_God, of all the things!_

Hyungwon puts a hand on his burning cheek.

Kihyun laughs. "We have known each other for such a long time." He parks the car, having reached their destination. Kihyun takes off his seat-belt before turning in his seat to look at Hyungwon. "I have seen you grow up and yet it's so easy to forget that you are nothing but a cocky teenager going through puberty. It's that pissy attitude of yours. It's so annoyingly adult."

Hyungwon takes off his seat-belt as well. "Are you sure it's that and not the fact that I am already taller than you?"

"Just 3 cm!"

"I am also 14."

"Ugh. Get out." Hyungwon laughs and opens the door but before he can get out, Kihyun stops him.

"What?"

"Take Hyunwoo up on his offer."

"Huh? Why?"

Kihyun looks away, nervous fingers mindlessly tapping on the steering wheel. "It's not puberty that has you distracted or at least not just puberty. I know from personal experience that it's the bond."

Hyungwon settles down in his seat again. Outside, the evening is deepening. The crickets are rubbing their hands, preparing for their nightly battle of the bands. But before that, there is the calm and silence that comes with everything dark. Kihyun and Hyungwon are still sitting inside the car, the soothing wind and the dusky sky unable to touch and carry them with it.

In this calmness, Kihyun's eyes are unsure and turbulent as he looks at Hyungwon and sees his own failure caused by his negligence reflected. But, most importantly, he sees his own past.

"What do you mean, Kihyun?" Hyunwon asks, Kihyun's pensive demeanor unnerving him.

While Hyungwon isn't the best at being able to tolerate anyone staring at him, there are three people whose stare spook him the most. Since his conception and life in his 2-star mother's reasonably 3-star hospitable womb, the first spot has been held by his inimitable father, second by Hoseok and third, newly acquired by Jooheon.

Kihyun has nothing on them. His stare usually doesn't pierce through his skin like a virus: attaching, penetrating, and replicating like it is now.

"Is there something on my face?" Hyungwon asks, trying to distract Kihyun from whatever has him staring at Hyungwon like that.

"Ugliness?" Kihyun replies, almost like a reflex but the impact is barely there, the sharp tone missing.

"Stop projecting."

"Uh-huh."

The pointed stare stays directed at him. Fed up, Hyungwon clicks his fingers in front of Kihyun's face. "Why are you staring at me?"

Kihyun keeps looking. "Trying to figure you out."

"Good luck with that."

"No one is impenetrable. And I just remembered that you are a kid, so certainly not you. Compared to Hoseok, figuring you out should be like a walk in the park, and yet, I find myself struggling to put you in a box with your characteristics neatly written on the label."

"Yeah, I am mysterious. An impenetrable wall. Perplexing in my complexity like creatures dwelling in the undiscovered parts of the deep sea-"

"Will give you 10 dollars, if you shut up."

With an impish smile on his face, Hyungwon extends his hand, thin spindly fingers wiggling in greed. "Deal."

Kihyun exhales in defeat and takes out two crisp notes. "Okay, get out."

Now that Kihyun's stare isn't pinning him down, he can escape again but Kihyun's selection of words keeps him there. "What did you mean by 'compared to Hoseok'? Hoseok is like an open book while I am the book with an iron chastity belt on, kept in the top-most shelf in the forbidden corner of the library in underwater Atlantis."

Kihyun leans back in his seat and doesn't say anything. Rather than an unyielding silence, it looks like he is gathering his words so Hyungwon waits patiently until he can't wait anymore. He curls his fingers, his fist stern and stiff, postured like a soldier, ready to gently punch the enemy.

Kihyun looks at him and Hyungwon drops his hand innocently.

Kihyun's faraway eyes, voyaging in the past, are swimming with the murky water of memories.

With a charged heavy breath, Kihyun recounts. "When I first saw Hoseok, I thought that too. My father took me to your house and left me with Hoseok, so I wouldn't hear about his illegal business.

Hoseok is two years older than me but I used to be tall and he was one of those kids who shot up overnight but back then he was a tiny mutt to me. So when he gave me easy smiles, contagious laughter, ready tears, I used to think, 'He can't hide anything from anyone. It's all there in his face.' When we met again years later, grown up and in an underground gay bar - with passwords and everything - again his easy smiles, contagious laughter, ready tears made me cement that initial assessment and then..."

Kihyun cants his head up, closing his eyes, drowning in the sea of his past.

"Then I fell in love with him and that's when I realized that I was absolutely wrong." He raises his hand, palm limp, plucking threads in thin air to avoid looking at Hyungwon. "Here's the thing, little Hyungwon. No one is pure. Given the right circumstances, everyone is immoral. Your brother's carefree smiles are anything but. It's a careful veneer put upon to make him look easy when needed. How else would he have survived here? In another world, he is happy and innocent."

Kihyun opens his eyes, the sea lost to the fire burning there. It's intense enough to burn Hyungwon who barely stops himself from flinching.

"But in this world, he is sad, so profoundly sad, the kind of sadness that only goes away for a moment with a heady rush. And sometimes, he is happy, maniacally so, and then he crashes and somehow his mind manages to plunge him to even deeper darkness, more black than before. It's impenetrable. It's so all-consuming and even though he tries to keep it to himself - and he does manage to control most of it - but what little inadvertently passes through our bond at his lowest is enough to make me not want to get out of bed for days.

In the beginning, it was so tough for me. It was so hard that I even considered breaking our bond. Hoseok had warned me before but the way he lived his life, I thought, "Oh well, it can't be that bad." But it was bad, it hit me even more so because my brain and body both were unfamiliar with this torrent of unfamiliar feelings and didn't know how to process it. Over time, I grew the strength to block them out and Hoseok grew the strength to keep it locked within him."

Kihyun stares at Hyungwon and gives him a sad smile, "And, yet, somehow I've never met anyone who has more will to live than him. Despite his tears or maybe because of his tears, he is so strong. But, you know what's the best part of your brother that took me over a year to realize?"

Hyungwon shakes his head, spellbound by Kihyun's word.

"He is the strongest, most cunning man, you'll ever meet, Hyungwon. You'll give him what he wants without you realizing it. I gave up so much for him willingly and I have no regrets but I also recognize the power he has on me, on everyone. He is different from your father but he is just as strong and smart, the only thing he lacks is cruelty but he compensates for it with his kindness and invention."

Kihyun looks at Hyungwon like he wants him to hear these words carefully and never forget them.

And how can he when the words bind him so completely? Like a rope, they tie him up as he tries to reconcile Kihyun’s version of his brother with the Hoseok he knows and loves.

The picture that he gets is scary.

Instead of fitting in with the other pieces of the puzzle that is Hoseok's picture in his mind, this piece stays there beside it, square and ill-fitting, ready to be thrown away, to be never looked at. It's abstract and convoluted. Hyungwon can make out blurry shapes, one lie given here to his father that gets Hoseok the permission to take Hyungwon to a trip, one innocent shrug there that gets the cook to bake them another cake on Hyungwon's birthday. But his mind refuses to connect the picture of what Kihyun knows Hoseok as and what Hyungwon sees Hoseok as.

But as Hyungwon knows that he has four fingers and a thumb, he also knows that Hoseok will never hurt him and so what if he charms things out of others for Hyungwon or himself? That doesn't mean he isn't the transparent, selfless Hoseok Hyungwon knows him as.

So why does it matter? What does Kihyun mean by all of this?

"I- okay. Okay. But I am not sure what does this has to do with me going on a vacation?"

Kihyun looks at him with an affected blank gaze, stopping himself from directly asking Hyungwon to absorb his every word instead of discarding them so easily. After a moment, he sighs, giving up. If Hyungwon doesn't want to see something that's up to him, for now, he'll give him what he needs the most.

"I know what you are going through because I went through it too. You need time to acclimate and you can't do that while you are stretching yourself thin with Minhyuk and your work. You remember our "Honeymoon" after the trip where we went to Hoseok's hometown and core-bonded."

"Yeah."

"Well, that was what it was. Hoseok's uncertain proposal might have made it seem like the proposal was just sprung up on me there but it was far from that. We had talked about this in detail and even though Hoseok tried to dissuade me by throwing piles of books and stories of the consequences of bonding with people who have unstable mental health, I persisted. Together, we researched the best way to get around it. One of the most important things that we found was taking a break and letting yourself build a wall, an immunity, during that period.

Hoseok and I thought that you were doing well, considering all the exceptions in your and Minhyuk's case and how much improvement Minhyuk was making, we thought you were doing okay but now I see that you are not. I have been through this and if you want to keep living, you need to take a break, or else these new emotions will break you or you getting distracted will get you killed."

"I hear you but I think I have already acclimated, Kihyun. Except for my own physical pain, I can't feel anything. Nothing from him."

"That's because he is unconscious right now, remember?"

Hyungwon facepalms. "Oh shit, I completely forgot that. Shit."

"Actually- okay, I wanted Hoseok to tell you this because he is better with these things but he had to put him to sleep because he could sense that you were in danger. You sent him that signal through your bond and he panicked, and unknowingly, started using his powers.

That's another thing Hyungwon, you need to gain better control over your bond, at least, from your side. You can't add your own instability to his, he is not strong enough to take that. You need to close off the connections when needed." A pause. "If nothing else, think of today, only sensing that you were hurt was enough for him to lose control, think of how it will scar Minhyuk if something happens to you because of him."

"Okay, I will take a break later but right now Minhyuk needs me. I mean, what I am feeling is a little percent of what he is going through all the time and yet he is putting on a brave face and trying to reclaim his life. He only trusts me and he needs my support. I need to be there."

Kihyun shakes his head. "If you decide to take a break later, then you might not get as serendipitous of an offer as right now. Your father might get suspicious which again will jeopardize all four of us. Minhyuk is warming up to Hoseok and me. If we are careful, we can take this opportunity to get closer to him. The more people he can trust, the better it will be for you and him. As for him feeling so much more than you, like I said, the best thing you can do is keep your troubling emotions to yourself."

Hyungwon slumps back in his seat, head tilted backward, thinking for a while.

"Yeah, yeah, that makes sense." He sighs. "Okay, I will talk to father about it," he mumbles finally.

Kihyun smiles. "That's the spirit. I promise you that it's the right choice."

They step out of the car and start walking towards Kihyun's house, Kihyun’s words echoing in Hyungwon's mind.

"Hey, Kihyun."

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean by Hoseok being cunning and like my father?"

Kihyun continues walking. "You can take what you want from it. But, what I will say is, no one, and I mean absolutely no one, is like the version you perceive them to be. You might think you know a person intimately, you might trust them because they are family, but you don't know what actually goes through their mind; good or bad. There can be a huge difference between what a person decides to portray themselves as and what they actually are. Just...keep your eyes open and don't trust people blindly."

Hyungwon nods, his forehead creased in thought. "Thanks for everything. For taking Minhyuk in, for healing me, for taking care of Hoseok, for guiding me right now. For everything."

Kihyun shrugs. "That's what family is for."

***

**PRESENT**

The citric smell of the car-freshener fills Hyungwon’s nostrils, his head against the car seat while he passively looks at Ares’ leaked document placed on the steering wheel.

Faraway eyes leave the document for a moment to look at Minhyuk’s closed door. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, cobwebs of sleep catch him like an easy prey, ready to put him in a cocoon where he dreams of past memories but Hyungwon has a deadlier foe to battle: the present. He flutters his eyes open, swallowing down the taste of thick sleep.

With a grunt, he sits up straight and cracks his neck. The documents fall on his lap, he lets them be.

His screen lights up with Changkyun’s message: _We are getting out in a few minutes. Minhyuk is still sleeping. Should we wake him up? He’ll get suspicious tho._

_No, let him sleep_, he texts back and puts his phone down. His mind is too tired to look at a small screen, his eyes blurry with sleep.

_“Kihyun.”_

Spoken in Changkyun’s deep voice, the name had rung through his ears as he had tried to sleep last night.

If someday Hyungwon was taken by another family, tortured on a gun-point and asked if he thought of Kihyun as family, he would gladly let them amputate him because he could buy a prosthetic, he could even wear a strap-on if it came to that, but what he wouldn’t be able to get is some peace of mind once Kihyun caught wind of Hyungwon acknowledging him as family. He will be so obnoxious about it.

And because he is so dedicated to everything including being annoying, he’ll probably advertise it on billboards in every place Hyungwon would go.

You can’t simply escape Kihyun, Hyungwon has tried many times.

That being said, Hyungwon does think of Kihyun as family.

There's absolutely no doubt about it. Their relationship had started on the wrong foot because a younger Hyungwon was absolutely jealous of his brother loving someone who wasn't him because as it were, after the death of Hyungwon's mother, it was only Hoseok and Hyungwon. Their relationship evolved from one of indifference to unconditional love.

Hoseok was his brother, his mother, his father, his mentor, his student, his everything and Hyungwon thought that was the same for Hoseok.

In his childish naivety, every time his father gave him a cold shoulder or put him through some stupid test for his entertainment, Hyungwon made a doodle of his father and then crossed it out roughly until his anger was reflected in the harsh black crisscrossing lines and the torn page.

When he could breathe again, he fantasized about getting out of here and living with Hoseok alone, far away from the tyranny of their father.

But the childish fantasies had come crashing down for tiny Hyungwon when he was introduced to Kihyun as Hoseok's "boyfriend" because in his fantasies, no other person was allowed.

If it was only Hoseok and Hyungwon, they could be safe and happy but with another variable in the equation, the clear solution was compromised.

So, they had started off the wrong foot with Hyungwon hating everything that Kihyun represented: Hoseok's life outside Hyungwon. That seeped into hating Kihyun himself. He looked too sharp and talked too cleverly for someone as soft and simple as Hoseok.

In Hyungwon's mind, Kihyun was the evil, poisoned apple bearing ugly, old crone while Hoseok was a naive, hapless Snow White that needed saving.

On Kihyun's side, there was no love lost either.

For him, Hyungwon represented Hoseok's unbreakable tie to the mafia, a world that he absolutely despised and to an extent still does.

Until Hyungwon is a part of it, Hoseok would stay.

He thought of Hyungwon as bratty, manipulative and entitled. In Kihyun's defense, Hyungwon did act like that. He was too scared of Kihyun taking Hoseok away and leaving him to his father so he took it upon himself to show Kihyun that Hoseok would always prioritize him.

In retrospect, Hyungwon was a scared child who was testing the strength of Hoseok's bond with himself to see if it was as strong and unconditional as he thought or was it a weakness that Hyungwon needed to guard himself against.

In the end, it didn't matter.

In theory, Hoseok, like mother nature incarnate, loved both of them equally and couldn't put one over the other which, in practicality, translated into Hoseok throwing a tantrum and then running away for a week to escape both of them and their not-so-silent cold war.

That day, Kihyun and Hyungwon made an unspoken pact of _trying_ to tolerate each other for Hoseok's sake.

Over the years, that tolerance became fondness. Their bickering and teasing dynamic more for show than anything. Sometimes when Hyungwon thinks of Hoseok, he can't imagine him without Kihyun. It's been Hoseok and Kihyun for seemingly forever and he doesn’t even remember how it used to be before that.

There had been a time when he had to think about it and Hyungwon couldn’t.

He physically couldn't.

Without Kihyun, Hoseok would again become that shell of a man that he used to be. The one who gave him wide, empty smiles that younger Hyungwon never caught onto.

He can't imagine his own life without Kihyun's annoying lectures and snippy remarks but always, _always_, a reliable pillar of support.

Kihyun is family. Not like his daddy dearest but like his brother, actual family, someone he can unconditionally trust.

So it was ludicrous to even give thought to the insinuation that Changkyun made.

It was so ridiculous that Hyungwon's brain didn't even give it a second thought before bursting into loud laughter and dismissing Changkyun's claim. He had told Changkyun to channel his efforts somewhere else rather than wasting his time on Kihyun.

But before going to sleep, he reconsidered the possibility. You don’t exist in his father’s solar system without having inherited at least a slight mistrust of everyone, including your family.

Well, if you are his father, then especially your family.

Instead of counting sheep, he laid there, trying to dissect Changkyun’s claim rationally to dismiss it for once and all.

Even going in, he knew his mistake. He was incredibly biased. Instead of going in blind and solving the equation step-by-step, he had already assumed the solution and now each step was Hyungwon trying to lead himself to that particular solution.

But how could he not? Kihyun is family.

Further, Kihyun loves Minhyuk. He was like Kihyun and Hoseok's illegal child. There was a familial if not parental bond there.

But, okay, okay, the logic then.

What would be Kihyun’s motive? What would he get out of it?

The first probable motivation that he could think of was, of course, money.

That doesn’t make sense. Years ago, Minhyuk could fetch a fuck load of pretty pennies but in the present, as much as it pains Hyungwon to say this, from an ability-user trafficking point of view, Minhyuk’s seller would probably have to pay the buyer in order to get rid of him.

There is no way Kihyun would go out of his way to put Minhyuk in danger years later for money when he could easily compromise them years ago when Minhyuk was still a valuable weapon. What would he get from it now?

But the most obvious question here is why would he look for Ares when he knows exactly who and where Ares is? This didn't make any sense.

Unless he is relying on his buyer not knowing that Minhyuk is useless as a weapon now?

That would be a stupid decision, the buyer is going to sample the product before buying, Kihyun has lived in this world enough to know that. If it’s Kihyun indeed, then money or something else in exchange isn’t what he is after. If Minhyuk still had an active core, then the answer would have been different.

But...what if?

Hyungwon had tossed and forcibly stopped his train of thought before it could lead him to a dangerous place.

The second probable motivation: getting rid of what kept Hoseok in the mafia, Hyungwon and Minhyuk.

This makes more sense. Even in the beginning, Kihyun wasn’t too keen on the whole mafia business.

When he got involved himself for some quick money, he always kept a distance and maintained neutrality. You could get away with gunning another gang’s member in neutral territory but you couldn’t get away with harming anyone in Kihyun’s underground clinic. It was an unspoken but strictly abided by rule among the gangs.

While Hoseok has always implied that he would leave the mafia soon, both Kihyun and Hyungwon know that if he actually had any intention to, he would have left when their father had died. The universe couldn’t have given him a better chance and yet he chose to stay.

Hyungwon doesn’t think it has something to do with him and Minhyuk, but what if Kihyun knows something that he doesn’t and Hoseok’s decision has, in fact, something to do with them?

Spreading that file would be an absolutely brilliant stroke to call a reluctant Hyungwon here and then hit two birds with one stone, whatever stone that is.

This would also answer the question of why pretend to look for Ares when he already knows the answer.

Another curious thing that Changkyun had recalled from the incident and had caught Hyungwon’s attention was the almost forceful denial of Hyungwon’s involvement by the mysterious person.

If it was someone not in the know, they would have been at least a bit intrigued by the suggestion. But that person had denied it immediately. Almost as if they already knew that and wanted to detract him from the right path. Mislead him from the actual answer.

The answers fit almost too perfectly.

But there’s still a conspicuous gap, assuming there were a reasonable motive and plan here, and Kihyun was indeed behind it, there's no way he could have managed to keep it to himself. Hoseok would have found it. They are practically glued to each other and they have complete access to each other's feelings through their core bonds.

But didn’t they keep the connection close due to Hoseok’s turbulent mental health?

Hyungwon knew that at least Hoseok did. He isn’t sure about Kihyun. Outside of this, as capable and sneaky Kihyun is, even then there is no feasible way that Kihyun could pull it off. One inkling of anxiousness from Kihyun while spreading the documents, one missed meeting at the time when all this was going on would have been enough to clue Hoseok in.

Hoseok would have been suspicious and considering that he too was part of their father’s solar system, he would have seen it through until he could rest easy that Kihyun wasn’t their guy.

With such closeness to Hoseok, and of course, an almost opposite power from that of healing, the mysterious person being Kihyun is out of the question.

So, the next step was to broaden his view. In the world of ability-users, nothing is too out of the question. The realm of possibility is endless here. Hyungwon has been considering simple solutions because most of the time, they are the ones that get overlooked and almost always, they are the correct answers.

If the answer isn’t simple then Hyungwon has to let his imagination roam becaue again, anything is possible with ability-users.

If not Kihyun, then is there someone else who is roaming around here smelling like Kihyun? Maybe an ability-user who can appropriate people's smell or maybe even appearance? Kihyun was the underground healer of the mafia so it could be possible that someone is using that to have easy access into the mafia without getting questioned.

Although, if that happens, wouldn’t Kihyun find out, one way or another?

And well, then there’s the most obvious and simplest answers of all:

What if Changkyun was simply mistaken?

Hyungwon exhales loudly. So many possibilities. So many answers. So less evidence and so much guesswork. It’s almost admirable how the person managed to spread the documents so far and wide without leaving any trail. Hyungwon would know, he has interrogated many by now. So many people with files. So many “I don’t know! It was sent through a courier and then I got a phone call from a blocked number-”.

Dead end after dead end.

Hyungwon stares out of the car and observes Changkyun leaving the house with Jooheon in tow.

_Here’s another possibility._

Changkyun waves in the direction of Hyungwon’s car. His cue to enter their house.

_Changkyun knows the culprit and is deliberately misleading him._

He takes a deep breath and looks at the grey facade of Minhyuk's place.

So many possibilities but for now, he has something more important to deal with.

***

Hyungwon enters the kitchen and picks up an apple from the overflowing fruit basket.

_Kihyun must have paid a visit._

Languid steps to the sink, eyes roaming over the chess-like marble pattern of the floor before sweeping up to the mahogany cabinet.

_Who is even paying for all of this shit?_

He rinses the apple and then splashes his face, cold water seeps into his skin.

Instead of inspecting the place further, he sits down on the couch in the hall and bites into the apple, the too-sweet taste cuts into his cheeks, almost hurting.

He holds his jaw in pain. _The fuck?_

Great. Even the apples here hate him.

Hyungwon takes another bite and another, the sweetness continues biting him.

He goes back into the kitchen and throws the leftover into the trash can before washing his hands.

Fuck trying to be healthy.

He comes back with an old trusted friend, a pack of crisps, in his hands. He takes his shoes off and lies down on the couch.

As he stuffs crisp after crisp in his mouth, he thinks, stealing Minhyuk’s snack probably isn’t the way to go. He needs to think of a better strategy to get the boy talking without trying to afflict any bodily harm on his person. He very much likes and needs his person.

He is almost done with his second packet when Minhyuk stumbles out of his room. He has obviously woken up as he rubs his closed eyes, his long and wild half-ginger, half-white hair sticking up on one side.

_What a truly hideous monstrosity!_

Maybe Hyungwon should take Minhyuk to a salon. With that hair, Minhyuk would probably find “impotent virgin” much kinder after listening to whatever the hairstylist has to say.

Hyungwon observes him quietly and notes his sunken cheeks.

Blissfully oblivious of his nemesis’ presence in his proximity, eyes still closed, Minhyuk rises on his toes and raises his hands over his head to stretch. His grey sweatshirt rides up and his sharp hip bones peek out, a clear indication of the weight he has lost in merely two weeks.

It's not as bad as it was when he was a child but again only two weeks have passed. If this continues, Hyungwon doesn't want to think of what will happen in a month.

Abruptly, Minhyuk sits down on the floor and clutches his head, his eyes stay shut as he massages his forehead. He starts taking rhythmic deep breaths as if it's part of his morning routine.

_Yoga and headache: My secret to clear skin, a memoir by Lee Minhyuk_

Hyungwon opens his mouth to announce his presence, even as unwelcomed as it is, when Minhyuk pulls his hands away from his head and stretches his left leg out. He puts his hand over the knee and starts massaging it with the same circular motions. After that, he starts massaging his right hand.

He ends his bizarre morning routine by pulling his knees to his chest, long arms wrapped around his legs, head on his knees, eyes still closed.

Hyungwon thinks now is the time but then he hears Minhyuk sniffling.

The sound is so devastatingly pitiful that Hyungwon feels his heart shrivel up and die.

With soft steps, his socked feet moves towards Minhyuk's form. He drops on his knees in front of him. It's never a good idea to shove in your arm in a lion's cage even if it is injured but all Hyungwon sees is a scrawny kitten yowling in pain so without thinking of his own defense, he puts a hand on Minhyuk's head and runs it through his hair.

Contrary to its carnivorous troll-like appearance, the hair doesn’t bite his fingers off. Minhyuk must keep it fed.

Somehow its bizarre appearance had made Hyungwon think that it would be rough but it's soft like clouds.

"Go away." Minhyuk's voice is weak, the raspiness underlining his words but there's no effort behind any of it.

"I just got here."

Minhyuk jerks his head up. Unhesitatingly, he pushes Hyungwon away while he scurries behind until his back hits the wall. "What the hell? I thought you were Changkyun."

Hyungwon groans, his back flat against the floor. He did not expect that force. Goes to show, what love can’t, hate will.

"Frankly, I am insulted by the comparison."

Minhyuk snorts. "I am offended on Changkyun's behalf too. He is, like, 200% percent better than you. TWO HUNDRED PERCENT. You know what actually? He is INFINITE PERCENT better than you."

Hyungwon sits up and rubs the back of his head. A loud wince when he touches a sore point. "Is he better because no lunatic is attempting to crack his skull? I know my brain is sought after but goddamn. Fuck!" He winces once more as he pokes the tender point again, playing up the act.

Minhyuk bites his lower lip and then crawls towards him, still on his knees. He grabs the back of Hyungwon's neck and pushes his head down, surveying his head for injuries.

"There's no blood. You'll be fine."

Of course, he is fine. He didn't fall from the second floor on his precious head. Minhyuk’s force behind the action was unexpected but not much. His head hitting the floor was barely a love tap but Minhyuk doesn't need to know that. If he is to get Minhyuk talking, he needs all the cards that he can get.

"Ever heard of internal bleeding, you little shit?"

Well, that could have been said better.

The hands come to his chest and push him down again. Without losing a second, Minhyuk straddles him.

Minhyuk's eyes dig into his, waiting to catch every lie and trap him here forever between his thighs.

"Some other day I would have played with you. But, right now, I have no fucking patience for your usual fuckery, so stop with your motherfucking games! What do you want?"

_The man who started this mess. The universe. Buck loads of money and power. Some peace of mind. Hoseok and Kihyun married and on their honeymoon. Jooheon in a lab. Changkyun stuck forever in a kitten form. You not sitting almost on my cock right now. You actually sitting on my cock right now. You._

Hyungwon raises a brow. "Interesting interrogation technique. Where did you pick it up from? Kamasutra for FBI?"

Minhyuk puts his hand over Hyungwon's neck, hovering but not touching.

"Shut up. Answer me. What do you want?"

Hyungwon scoffs. "What are you going to do? Choke me?"

Minhyuk's hands wrap around his neck. The grip is gentle, a necklace built of thorny vines. Not cutting yet, only prickling.

The touch is definitely there. Minhyuk narrows his eyes, suddenly, the threat feels more real.

"Pardon me, sir. I am not in the bestest of moods right now. I feel this close to committing a crime of passion. The crime being your murder and the passion being my passion to commit your murder. So you better watch your words."

Hyungwon grabs Minhyuk's wrist, not moving his hands from his neck. "Changkyun told me that you are not well so I came here to ask after you. How are you?"

Minhyuk looks at him with solemn eyes. "I hate guns.” One corner of his lips rises in disgust. “They feel too quick and easy for something as final as death. But, right now, I want to buy one and shoot my every body part that hurts with it. If I did that I am afraid, I'll become Swiss cheese, littered with holes everywhere. It sounds horrible but so much better than living whole. So, you know, I feel,” A mocking smile, “juuuuuust peachy right now."

"So, not really well then?"

The pressure on his neck increases slightly. "Is that all? Can you leave now?"

"Why a gun though? You could drown yourself in a tub."

Minhyuk looks at him in disbelief, his grip slackening. "I don’t want to die, are you...giving me advice on how to commit suicide?"

Hyungwon shakes his head urgently. "No. No. No! For legal and Hoseok purposes, I am not. I am just asking why a gun? Conducting a little psychological research here."

Minhyuk tightens his grip. And, yeah, Hyungwon can feel it now. With a clenched jaw, Minhyuk subconsciously starts pushing his body into Hyungwon.

Hyungwon swallows as he feels it all going down to his dick.

He looks at Minhyuk’s ugly hair to try to control it but somehow the angle makes it work. It looks really great with Minhyuk’s angry face and, of course, Hyungwon will be turned on by all of this.

_What great timing to discover your kinks!_

Hyungwon looks into Minhyuk's burning eyes. He tries to recall something bizarre that would point towards it all being a dream because, right now, Minhyuk choking him while straddling him as Hyungwon tries to not be hard seems surreal.

_What happens if someone dies with a hard-on? Can corpses have erections?_

"Good to know that you hate me enough to see me dead but I don't care about what you think. I live for brother, Kihyun, Jooheon and Changkyun. If I die, it will be for them."

_Enough._

Hyungwon puts a hand behind Minhyuk's head and flips them. Minhyuk goes down easily, the last of his energy leaving him as his back hits the floor, his head cushioned by Hyungwon's hand. Hyungwon rises on his knees, his torso above Minhyuk’s abdomen, a careful distance between their bodies.

Minhyuk raises his right hand and gives Hyungwon’s arm a half-hearted push. Hyungwon takes it and pins it by his side because suddenly, it's all real.

"Shut up. You are not dying for anyone. You barely started living. You are a fucking kid. Stop talking like that."

Minhyuk turns his head, his body still, not even an attempt to put up a fight. "Stop pretending like you care."

Hyungwon grabs his face and turns it to face him. "I am not fucking pretending, I do care."

This fucking brat. Hyungwon didn't jump through so many hoops over the years, just for the kid to tell him that he didn't care. The fucking audaci-

"Impotent virgin."

Hyungwon sighs.

Mercilessly, Minhyuk continues. "That's what you called me. You know, I never told anyone what I told you. I told YOU, a practical stranger, because I thought you'll understand. But you only listened to have something on me that you could use at the right time, which you did."

Hyungwon smiles wryly. "You know everything, don't you?"

Minhyuk tilts his chin up, accepting Hyungwon's challenge. "I can see through your games, you know? You like me but for some reason you don't want to and that's okay. Whatever. But that doesn't give you the right to attack me like that. You could have talked to me like an adult but you chose the sneaky, underhanded way of hurting me to drive me away because you lack emotional intelligence and don't know how to communicate that you need distance. There you go. Saved you a trip to a therapist."

Hyungwon can't believe this shit. He is completely aware that he doesn't know this Minhyuk at all but to know it passively is one thing and to experience it like this is another.

He had been so cocky that Minhyuk would buy his words at face value and shut him out without trying to look into it even once but here's the boy, not only pinpointing exactly what Hyungwon was doing but also giving him a free diagnosis of why.

Hyungwon was almost ready to write sentimental poems on the walls the next day after Impotent Virgin-gate but here's Minhyuk heartless and too smart for his own good.

The revelation that Minhyuk can give as good as he gets somehow makes him even more attractive.

God, why does he have to act so cocky and why is Hyungwon so attracted to such unearned and fake cockiness?

Maybe the universe does want Hyungwon to fuck Minhyuk and Jooheon is just not delivering the message.

He leans down, his face hovering above Minhyuk's, lips twisted in a sneer. "Is that what you tell yourself? You sound like every college-goer after one semester of psychology. But whatever helps you sleep at night."

Minhyuk rolls his eyes and puts his palms over Hyungwon's chest trying to push him away but Hyungwon stays there, unmoved and a little concerned by the feeble force behind the effort.

Minhyuk slumps exhausted and clenches his eyes shut. "Fuck you. I don't have the energy for this. Even if you don't like me like that, you do care for me. You said it right now. So you calling me that was definitely to push me away and I got the message. I am staying away. Now, what the hell do you want?"

Hyungwon taps Minhyuk’s forehead. Minhyuk opens his eyes and they look at each other.

"Just wanted to ask after your health."

Minhyuk gives him a pained smile.

"I am hurting. I am in so much pain. My back hurts if I sit, my head hurts if I lie down, my knee hurts if I walk.”

A lone tear falls down from Minhyuk’s left eye, Hyungwon holds his face in his palms and rubs it away with his thumb.

Minhyuk sniffles. “I tried jogging yesterday and my heart kept pounding. I have grown so paranoid about my own body that I thought that I was having a heart attack which triggered a panic attack and I fucking fainted in a park somewhere alone at the ass crack of dawn. Jooheon found me, brought me back and took care of me.

When I woke up, there was tingling on the soles of my feet and then my legs. I couldn’t curl my right hand, so I started crying because I was so scared. I cried so much that I couldn’t breathe. I am an artist, how will I draw if my right hand doesn’t work? It only lasted a minute but I am so so so scared.

Last week, my eyesight dipped out of nowhere. I got glasses so I can see okay but what if this is just the beginning and it will continue to deteriorate. Again, what will I do if I lose my sight?”

Hyungwon continues stroking his face because there’s a flood of tears now.

Minhyuk closes his eyes. Sobbing, he continues pushing the words out of himself as if he was waiting for someone to lower the dam and now he has to let everything out. “Today, I woke up with pain everywhere. My left eye is burning, my head is ripping itself apart even as I am talking right now. It feels like I am made of some shitty, faulty material because my every bone is hurting. My back is stiff, my knee is throbbing, my ears are ringing, my head feels like it is getting hammered. It’s so much. Too much. Did you not hear? I want to fucking put holes in my whole body and live my life as fucking Swiss cheese or just not live."

He opens his eyes and looks straight at Hyungwon, even more tears spilling from his left eye which now Hyungwon notices is red.

"So, yeah, I am doing fucking great.” He grabs Hyungwon’s hand. “Now get out," Minhyuk whispers as he links their fingers. "Please get out and leave me alone. I can't deal with you and your lack of emotional intelligence. Get out. Get out. Get out. Please." His voice breaks as he holds Hyungwon’s hand in a crushing grip.

Hyungwon’s heart feels heavy. A burning sensation starts building up in his chest. Lost for words, he puts a cold hand against Minhyuk's burning cheek, the wetness of his tears cuts into his skin like the tangy sharpness of the apple had. He feels the buzzing ache travel through his bones.

Getting off of Minhyuk, Hyungwon sits on the floor beside him. He tries to take his captive hand away but Minhyuk doesn’t let it go. Tugging it with force, Hyungwon makes Minhyuk sit up and then holds him against his chest in a tight embrace. Minhyuk buries his face in his neck, their joined hands between them.

Hyungwon caresses Minhyuk’s hair. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll take you to a doctor. There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Minhyuk shakes his head. "No, Jooheon took me yesterday.” A sniff. “Nothing came out in the blood tests. They initially thought that it was core poisoning. I told them that I have an inactive core so that’s not possible.”

Hyungwon hands stop. “What did the doctor say then?”

“She said my symptoms are exactly that of stage-2 core-poisoning so they are going to check it, just to make sure. I told her it’s a waste of money and time but she said that it could be a possibility that my core is active but halted for some reason, causing this mess.”

“Di-” Hyungwon clears his throat. “Did you get the tests done?”

“Yeah, Jooheon made me get them. They took the blood and the scans. The results will come tomorrow."

_Don't react. Don't react. Don't react._

For eight years, Hyungwon never questioned the successful neutralization of Minhyuk’s core. Sure he was young with an immature core himself but he had done it two times before so he knew what he was doing.

The night had taken a huge mental and physical toll on him but he knew that he had gotten the job done.

He had felt Minhyuk’s core crack and shut down. He had checked and rechecked but the result was the same; it was neutralized. Even with the amplifier, if Minhyuk poured all his power into it, the most he would be able to do was make his body a little heavy or lighter. That would be enough to leave him exhausted for days like the other Regressives.

For eight years, with the distance of many states and countless miles between him and Minhyuk, he never had any reason to doubt.

_But then I came here and.._

Hyungwon focuses on the burning sensation inside his chest amping up.

It had started when they had met at the airport. Fiercely held against Minhyuk, he had felt something in his chest. A tickle of something. It had been so slight that, consciously, he hadn’t even acknowledged it.

After that every time when he was in Minhyuk’s presence, he had felt something in his chest. Gradually, it started building up, the tickle growing into a buzz.

Hyungwon was so cock sure of it having nothing to do with anything other than infatuation. He never even considered what he was feeling was his core reacting to Minhyuk’s.

But, subconsciously, his brain knew something was up. The doubts were forming and if Hyungwon himself hadn’t neutralized the core, he would have gotten Minhyuk’s core checked by someone by now.

It's the same subconscious doubt that had him so scared when he had almost touched Minhyuk with charged hands.

If Minhyuk's core was neutralized, his power wouldn't have had an impact on him.

But, somehow, even though Hyungwon didn't know, he _knew_.

His subconscious knew.

If his tests come out negative, there are many possibilities but if they don’t, then the only possibility is this: At the age of 16, young Hyungwon neutralized his third core. This time around, there was a difference. It wasn't done to an enemy under his father's supervision but rather to a loved one with an extremely powerful core during a time he was emotionally turbulent. Long story short, the 16-year-old emotional and unstable Hyungwon fucked up.

Up until now, Hyungwon thought that he had neutralized Minhyuk's core but what if he didn't? He had felt their core-bond break but what if that had happened not because Minhyuk's core was neutralized but merely broken?

He did definitely feel the snap. So he knows that he had at least managed to crack it but what if it wasn’t deep enough and Minhyuk’s body repaired it?

There’s so much Hyungwon doesn’t know about Minhyuk but one thing that he absolutely knows is that Minhyuk has an exceptionally strong core and body.

This is a fact.

It’s not only because Hyungwon felt it but also because there’s no one else who could have an amplifier embedded into them and not imploded with the power. It isn’t too far-fetched to think that Minhyuk’s core repaired itself just like it must have done when an amplifier was surgically joined to it.

_Why didn’t I think of this before?_

He thinks about what Minhyuk said. Undeniably, all his symptoms do sound like core poisoning caused by an active core not rotating for years.

Hyungwon closes his eyes and rubs an oddly quiet Minhyuk’s back.

He still remembers how scared he was when he had almost touched Minhyuk with powers in his fingertips because if Minhyuk's core was just paused and not neutralized then it would have been triggered by Hyungwon's powers.

Hyungwon's eyes open in shock when he feels Minhyuk’s lips against his neck.

"Minhyuk?"

"I think it’s because of you." Minhyuk slurs.

Hyungwon flinches. The burning sensation inside his chest starts spreading. He buckles against Minhyuk, the sensation multiplies, rippling through him as though a million ants are running inside his chest.

He sucks in a stuttering breath as he realizes the sensation is starting from his core.

The jitters reach his hands and he starts feeling a magnetic pull.

_I have felt this before._

A choked sound reaches his ears. Minhyuk lets go of Hyungwon’s hands and starts trembling against him.

“Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk pushes him away. Hurriedly, he gets up and starts stumbling backward. “Stop it. It’s hurting me,” he cries.

Still on the floor, hunched on himself, Hyungwon looks up at him in confusion.

Minhyuk’s eyes roll into his head and he starts falling. Panicking, Hyungwon reaches for his leg. An electric jolt goes through where his fingers touch Minhyuk. Recoiling, he lets go and Minhyuk falls on the floor with a thump.

“Shit.” One arm wrapped around his chest, Hyungwon shuffles towards Minhyuk. His body feels heavy, his breath comes out roughly, his throat feels parched. A bone-deep ache traverses through his body as his knees buckle.

Persevering, he reaches Minhyuk and finds him shaking like a leaf with empty eyes wide open, drool leaking out of his mouth.

Confused, he puts a hand on his cheek. “Minhyuk?”

The empty eyes show no sign of awareness and Hyungwon, horrified, finds himself transported to the past.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!" Hyungwon pats his cheek, his voice desperate. “Minhyuk, get up, please.”

Heaviness gathers in the back of his throat, his vision turns blurry with tears gathering in his eyes as he fumbles for his phone and dials the number for emergency.

At the last moment, hesitating, he calls Kihyun instead. Kihyun doesn't pick up. Before Hyungwon can call the emergency number, a prickling sensation of all-consuming pain goes through his chest. It feels like his rib-cage is shrinking and the cracked ribs are skewing through his organs. His phone drops from his hand as he cries in pain.

Like cold water, realization washes through his entire body. Instinctively, he looks into Minhyuk's eyes and finds them emptier than before.

He is dying, Hyungwon realizes as the pain inside him intensifies.

The pain ramps up. It’s excruciating. It feels like the ants are biting into his nerves now, tender bones are ripping through his organs while his skin is tightening on his body.

Through teary eyes, he looks at Minhyuk. Eyes blown, his body is arching off the floor. Contorted almost like a bow, the skin on his body looks taut and leathery. Hyungwon notices his stuttering breath.

_I am running out of time._

_Fight or flight._

_Do something._

_Something._

_Somethi-_

There’s no rationale but plain instinct behind his actions as he gathers all his power in his hand and smashes it against Minhyuk's core.

Minhyuk’s core gives a faint red glow and flickers twice. Hyungwon thinks he’s onto something when like his hopes, the red glow goes out. Minhyuk’s body goes limp as he crumbles against the floor, eerily still.

Hyungwon realizes he fucked up when his ears start ringing. The empty void inside his chest that Hyungwon had grown accustomed to over the years starts expanding. It starts sucking in Hyungwon’s pain, his emotions, his awareness, his love, his hate.

Hyungwon knows that Minhyuk’s dead even before he puts a hand over his heart.

“No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. You aren't fucking die on me. I am not done with you. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Please.”

He roughly shakes Minhyuk’s body. Empty eyes continue staring at the ceiling, the light of life missing completely as it sways.

“Wake up. Wake up. This is fucking shit. We have unfinished business. Do something,” Hyungwon cries.

_Do Something, Hyungwon._

There's no time for regrets, he tells himself as he listens to his gut and tries receding into the world of threads.

The material world fades away but comes back. Hyungwon tries again. His vision glitches. The two worlds, material and immaterial, collide. His focus is off, Hyungwon can’t do anything like this. It's tough to concentrate over the ringing in his ears, his heart pounding loudly.

He taps into the void inside him and focuses on the emptiness.

He closes his eyes and lets Hoseok’s calm voice overtake the ringing and the thumping in his ears.

_“There’s no matter. It’s all threads. Focus, Hyungwon. Think of your nervous system. What is it? Just threads spread throughout your body. Visualize the threads inside you.”_

Hyungwon inhales deeply.

_“Put your hand over the candle. You feel that burning sensation? Follow it. That’s one thread.”_

Exhale.

_“Duplicate it._

_Let it multiply into a crisscrossing mess until everything in your body - your fingers, your toes, your limbs, your chest, your back, your core - everything is connected to your spine through threads._

_Did you do that? Good, connect that spine to your brain._

_Now externalize that knowledge._

_Think of the world around you._

_What is it?_

_Just a body. It’s your body._

_Its spine and brain? Earth’s core. That’s yours now._

_Where are your nerves? Everywhere. Visualize them. They are white. Color them. You’ll see them better. I am painting them neon blue. They will glow in the dark. It’s your nerves. It’s inside you. Can you see them?”_

He opens his eyes, the world is a blurry background to the bright blue threads that are in front of his sight.

Wasting no time, he closes his eyes again. He reaches for his bond thread and follows it to Minhyuk's core.

Fear, black and viscous, pools in his stomach as he sees the thread rotting and blackening from Minhyuk’s side.

He ignores it and tugs at it. Nothing happens. He tugs it again.

Nothing. Eyes fluttering open, he doesn’t let the thread go out of his sight, the world blurring outside of it.

He bends down, plugging Minhyuk’s nose close with one hand, while putting his mouth over Minhyuk's, breathing into him twice. Gathering the power in his right hand, the current going from his core to his palm, he puts it over Minhyuk’s heart and presses down on it.

He grits his teeth in effort, willing the pain in his core to change into more power.

Adrenaline rushes through his veins, his core starts glowing, working at its maximum capacity, white sparks start coming from his fingers. He lets the current caused by his power to travel from his fingers to Minhyuk’s chest as he continues compressing.

Breathing into Minhyuk’s mouth, he tugs the thread again.

_Push._

_Breathe._

_Tug._

_Push._

_Breathe._

_Tug._

_Push._

_Breath._

_Tug._

During the fifteenth cycle, he feels Minhyuk's heart beat again, its rhythm all off.

Like a homeless man stumbling on an abandoned worn off sweater, he takes that little hope with jest and wraps it around his body, the warmth more symbolic than literal.

He tugs the thread harder. Minhyuk’s core starts vibrating. Against his mouth, Minhyuk sucks in a deep breath. Hyungwon pulls away, hands to himself, tears dripping down from his eyes to Minhyuk's face.

Hyungwon's shallow breaths quicken, darkness starts creeping from the corner of his eyes but he is not done yet. He recedes his power and flings his hands on Minhyuk, one on his heart and the other above his core.

He tugs the thread once more. The core continues vibrating but it doesn't move as if it’s jammed from disuse.

Changing his tactic, he channels the power to his fingertips and nullifies Minhyuk's core. It halts. He tugs the thread with full force, the core starts vibrating again.

He repeats the cycle until the core gives and starts moving.

Hunched, eyes closing out of fatigue, breath coming out in short pangs, Hyungwon drags himself to check Minhyuk’s heartbeat and breathing.

He notes the returning color on Minhyuk’s face, chasing away the grey of death.

Hyungwon is going to crash, he can feel it with his every shallow breath but his job isn't done.

Minhyuk's core is moving too slowly. To fight the core poisoning, a blood transfusion is needed but until then, to keep it from building up, his core needs to revolve faster.

With a last burst of energy, he transfers his power to Minhyuk. Minhyuk’s core, a hungry beast, absorbs it easily and starts glowing red.

A searing pain like multiple paper cuts rips into his body and Hyungwon screams.

The red glow becomes blinding.

Hyungwon lies down on the floor and gathers Minhyuk in his shaky arms.

_Stay up. Stay up. Just one last thing._

Reassured by Minhyuk's breath against his neck, he picks up his phone and dials Hoseok before giving in to the pain and fatigue of his overexerted body.

***

"Motherfucker." Hyungwon groans, waking up to his whole body weighing like bricks.

"Language," says a gentle voice from beside him. Hyungwon rolls over and finds Hoseok sitting on a chair, flicking through a magazine.

As unfamiliar a scene it is, Hyungwon relaxes when he sees Hoseok. He jerks up as his memories come back, looking around with wild eyes. With a cry of pain, he lets his body fall down on the mattress with the same enthusiasm as he had gotten up.

"You overexerted yourself. You’ve been out for two days. Give yourself a few more days to recover." Hoseok says, eyes focused on the glossy pages of the magazine.

"Yeah. I can see that. How is Minhyuk?" Hyungwon’s voice tapers off with nervousness, becoming small by the end.

"He is fine. He'll be completely back on track in a few days as well. Kihyun has decided to keep him unconscious with his core moving to make his recovery faster. So he is just sitting there unconscious but with his eyes open. You probably remember it from before."

Hyungwon nods, mouth dry. "His core is...working again."

"Yeah. I know. I felt it as soon as I saw him." Hoseok flicks the page and continues with his reading.

"Look at you. Would you like some tea with your magazine?"

"No. Thanks. I just had some. But I appreciate the hospitality."

_Okay. What the fuck?_

"What the fuck? What's going on here? Minhyuk almost died. Actually, not 'almost'. His heart actually stopped for a few seconds. I don’t know myself how I brought him back. Another thing! His fucking core was still active over the years. He was suffering from core poisoning! I had to exert so much energy to save him that I fucking couldn't breathe by the end. It was so bad."

Hoseok throws his magazine away, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "When I went there you both were fucking passed out. Do you know how scary that was?"

Hyungwon puts a hand on his heart and gasps performatively. "Oh, I am sorry. How ill-mannered of me to not stop my body from passing out so that I could greet you at the door with some tea and biscuits."

Hoseok folds his arms over his chest, mouth twisted. "You called me and said, 'Minhyuk's house' and that's all I had before seeing two dead looking bodies when I reached there. I was so scared. My knees buckled and I had to crawl towards you both!"

Hyungwon looks away. "Yeah. That was shitty. I am sorry. I was running out of breath." He gives Hoseok a sweet smile. "If it helps, I thought I was dying too."

Hoseok tears up with a sniffle and yeah, that's the snotty-nosed Hoseok Hyungwon knows and loves.

"I thought that you both had died."

"Yeah, I am a demon so I don't really care for dying all that much."

"I am so angry at you both."

Hyungwon groans. "I saved your kid!"

"Did you know about his core?"

"No!"

Hoseok gives him a pointed stare. Hyungwon deflates. "I had my doubts. SUBCONSCIOUS doubts."

"You didn't tell me about them. An-"

"I didn't think there was something to tell!"

"And Minhyuk, that idiot brat! I have been asking him this past week if he is feeling okay or should I take him to a doctor. He told me that he already saw one and it's just a stomach bug. A STOMACH BUG."

"I know, right? He is such a dirty little brat. Taking advantage of your kindness. So spoiled. You should disown him."

Hoseok rolls his eyes, nose red, eyes watery. "He almost died. Have some heart."

Hyungwon flings his arms in incredulity. "What the fuck? I almost died too! _You_ have some heart for me!"

Hoseok does a half shrug, a little smile creeping on his lips. "You have almost died plenty of times. So, meh."

"MEH?"

"I mean if you are already well enough to shout and demand attention, you'll live."

"Well, look at you. Aren't you the modern-day Florence Nightingale?"

Hoseok grins. "I try." He gets up from his chair and bends down. Soft hands pat Hyungwon’s head. "Thank you so much."

Hyungwon closes his eyes.

"For what?"

"For saving Minhyuk. For living."

Hyungwon smiles. "You're welcome."

***

Hyungwon pops a grape in his mouth, smacking his lips obnoxiously and smiling when he sees Kihyun’s mouth twist.

“And that was when I called Hoseok and passed the fuck out.”

Hoseok taps his chin in thought. “It makes sense. Do you think Minhyuk’s core repaired itself? I mean, I know he is powerful but damn.”

Hyungwon shrugs, dabbing his lips with the tissue. “I mean is that news? We know how powerful he was- is.” Realizing something, Hyungwon looks at Hoseok. “What color is his core now?”

Hoseok gives him a disappointed sigh. “I can’t visualize it. I tried. I know his core is working because I can feel my core reacting to it. It’s so powerful and yet I can’t see any color or thread. The only other person whose core’s color I could visualize as a child but not anymore is-”

“Jooheon, right?”

“Yeah.”

Hyungwon doesn’t know where the name came from but like years ago, he can still feel that this is all connected to Jooheon and if he figured him out, then he’ll at least figure out the rules of the game that they are playing. Right now, everything is too unpredictable.

“What do you think happened? Was his core lying there intact over the years and gained enough strength to activate itself after his 21st birthday?” Hoseok perks up. “What if that day was his actual birthday?”

Kihyun waves a dismissive hand. “Jooheon gave us the date of his birth. He is never wrong.”

Hyungwon looks at Kihyun sharply. “And what 5-star reviews does he have to confirm this other than your biased advertising?”

Kihyun shrugs, confident. “You can put him in a room full of people and ask him this question. Most probably, he won’t be in the mood to answer you but if he is, he is going to be correct. Every. Time. I can bet my life on it.”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes but even he knows a losing bet when he sees one. He has a bigger fish to fry. “Why don’t we ask Jooheon then?”

Kihyun gives him a shit-eating grin. Hyungwon bristles, feeling as if he is part of a joke that he isn’t aware of.

“He told me this is what you’d say and his answer is.” Kihyun clears his throat and tilts his chin up. Mimicking Jooheon’s blank eyes and quiet tone, he quotes, “Expect me there in two days.”

Hyungwon scoffs. “If our highness deems so then we’ll have to make do with that.”

***

The smattering of stars is faint on the dark blue sky. Hyungwon takes a deep breath and lets it out carefully, his pulsating core acting like a rhythm to time his breaths to.

He raises his arm, closing his hand as if to grab the half-eaten moon from the sky. The view of the trees on the horizon is blurry but he keeps staring.

He walks towards the edge of the balcony and lets his long arms lie on the railing.

His core continues singing.

It has been so many years - eight to be exact - since his core felt like this.

It feels immortal. Something that would outlive Hyungwon.

It feels powerful.

But, most importantly, it feels complete.

The feeling of a hungry void that had been slowly eating him up in the past years has ebbed with Minhyuk's core replacing it.

He feels whole again. It's a nice feeling. It feels natural and not artificial as the high of drugs feel. It's not all-consuming but it's subtle. Rather than momentary, it feels eternal.

He gives the sky a soft smile.

_Ah, I missed this feeling._

He thinks about the infinite source of power on the other end of his core bond.

He tightens his grip on the railing and his smile drops.

The night blows a light breeze on his neck and the sweat there burns cold.

_Resist._

_Don't fuck this up this time._

***

Hyungwon links his hands and stretches them in front of him, counting to 10.

A knock on the door breaks his concentration. “Come in.”

Kihyun enters the room, his work briefcase in his hand. Hyungwon glances at him sideways and continues with the stretching.

"Are you nearly done?"

"I am not. It takes much more time to maintain such a great body but I guess, I can cut it short for now. That's the least I can do for my _almost_ brother-in-law."

Kihyun snorts. "Yeah, okay, Rambo. This will take a minute."

Kihyun takes his temperature, checks his pulse and then blood pressure.

He sighs and Hyungwon looks at him in concern. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not at all," Kihyun says in disappointment.

"Well, don't sound too happy about it. We don't want anyone thinking that you are actually human with human emotions now, do we?"

"Ugh. It's not that. It's been a week since your crash and you are okay. If anything, you are more of a pain in the ass now then you were before."

"And here I thought my efforts were going unnoticed."

Kihyun sighs. "Hoseok keeps telling me to check you but you are perfectly healthy so I am going to stop checking your vitals out of concern for my own health."

Hyungwon unrolls his sleeves while Kihyun collects his paraphernalia. "Aww. Here I thought, we were bonding."

Kihyun shakes his head and gets up, ready to leave.

"How is Minhyuk today?" Hyungwon asks.

"He is absolutely fine. Gained the weight that he had lost. Vitals are looking great. His core is healthy and rotating. It’s still churning poison in his stream and it will take a few years of rotation for it to get better but until then he is going to have the occasional migraines and bone ache here and there. In comparison to all such cases, he is doing great."

Hyungwon wants to feel relieved but the image of Minhyuk in pain, talking about putting holes into his body, still haunts him.

"I have been telling you this every day."

Hyungwon gets up from the bed. "Yeah, well, things change."

Or at least, he wants them to change. He doesn’t want Minhyuk doing great “in comparison to all such cases”, he wants him completely healed. No migraines or bone ache but...

"They will not for Minhyuk. I am waking him up today. He is as healthy as he can be. You can trust me."

Hyungwon repeats the last sentence to himself.

"Yeah, I am."

***

“His core was repaired by the time he turned 21 but it wasn’t activated. It reacted to its core-twin. Following the pattern of the past, you subconsciously transferred some energy into his core and that was the cause of this all.”

Jooheon's eyes lose their glow as he turns towards his audience. Hyungwon looks at his hands still holding Minhyuk’s.

“So it was my fault?” Hyungwon asks.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what are you saying?” Hyungwon tightens his fists.

Jooheon gives him a slow blink. “It could be anything. It was very susceptible. Hungry. Even Kihyun using his power to heal him could have triggered it. You just happened to be the right person at the right time.”

_The right person at the right time?_

Hyungwon digs his nails deeper into the flesh. “Did you know about me failing to neutralize his core all those years ago?”

Jooheon tilts his head, posture almost coy. His eyes flit at someone behind him and something too complex to grasp at one glance flashes through them. “You _did_ neutralize it. It cracked but it repaired itself.”

“And you didn’t realize that it was repairing itself over the years? In such proximity? You didn’t realize it?”

Jooheon shrugs. “I only look into the things that I am asked to look into.”

Hyungwon’s eyes narrow. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Is his core still fractured? Even a little?” Kihyun intervenes. Words coming out fast and betraying his impatience.

_Or is that nervousness? _Hyungwon’s mind adds.

"It's not fractured. It’s completely intact. Whole and powerful."

Kihyun exhales in relief.

"Why are you relieved? If it had been fractured, his power would have been unstable, if we were lucky, maybe even regressive-level minimal, and we wouldn't be in this conundrum right now," Hyungwon says.

Kihyun gives him an annoyed look. "I am relieved that both of your carelessness,” He looks at Hoseok and Hyungwon in turn, “didn't affect him permanently. I told you both at the time that playing God in Minhyuk's life will bring nothing but ruin, to him and to us. And, boy, talk about predicting the future."

Hyungwon swallows down his guilt and puts on a blank mask. "We did what we had t-"

"Let's not talk about this. What's done is done. Let's think about the future." Hoseok intervenes.

The tension between the three of them is palpable as their past floats between them.

"His core is fine. Even stronger than before." Jooheon's quiet voice snaps them all to their present.

"Do we try to neutralize it again?"

"NO!" Kihyun shouts.

Hyungwon hides his curious look. "Why?"

"Because you are not God? You have no right to take away something that Minhyuk is born with."

"What stupid logic is that? If someone is born with a tumor that can kill them, then you take it out, you don't just let it be because they are born with it."

Kihyun scoffs. "There's a huge difference and you know it! You would be taking his power without his consent. Have some fucking decency. You are not a teenager anymore. Try using your heart instead of your brain for once."

Hyungwon stares at him. "His consent? You make me sound like a monster." He gives a bitter laugh. "For his consent, I would have to make up another lie to explain why he needs to give up his newly-earned ability but he isn't a kid anymore. He'll look into that one lie and all our charades will come down like a plucky House of cards. What then, huh?"

"We could always tell him the whole truth." Kihyun spits.

"Oh? Just when I thought your advice couldn't get any worse.”

"It's better than him building up his whole life on lies!"

Hyungwon looks at Kihyun in disbelief. "What should I tell him, Kihyun? That we planted false memories of his happy childhood? That his relationship with all of us is a lie? That the one friend that he made is on Hoseok’s salary? Do you think that it’s fair to lull him into security for years through lies and then unload the burden of his past on him out of nowhere? Do you think he's going to be okay?" He looks at Hoseok. "Do you think he's ever going to give you the time of his day?" He gestures at all of them. "Do you think he's ever going to trust any of us again or anyone for that matter? He told me that he lives for you. Can you give me in writing that he will continue to live his life? Can you?"

Kihyun's jaw is taut. He hates every word coming out of Hyungwon's mouth but his silence tells Hyungwon that he can't refute him.

Hyungwon looks at Hoseok who is staring at something far away. A solemn expression on his face.

As expected, the suffocating silence that lingers in the room for a moment is the only answer that Hyungwon gets.

"You don't need to neutralize his core. He is an adult. His core is at his strongest." Jooheon's voice cuts through the quiet in the room.

The three pairs of eyes whip towards him.

"What do you mean?" Hyungwon asks.

Jooheon stays silent. Eyes on the wall but faraway as always.

Kihyun sighs. "I think what he means is that his core is strong enough to feed the amplifier without resorting to eating his body. His body is stronger too so he won't be exhausted all the time." Kihyun looks at Hyungwon to see if he is paying attention and Hyungwon nods. "It should be fine as long as he uses his power in a controlled amount. We need to set a threshold and drill into him that he can't ever use more power than that. We need to keep an eye on him and note down how exhausted his body becomes after using his power and adjust the threshold accordingly. I'll keep doing regular medical checks to observe how this is affecting his body." Kihyun looks at Hoseok hopefully, tone pleading. “I think this can work. Please. Give it a chance. Give Minhyuk a chance.”

Hoseok nods, face twisted in guilt. "I agree but I think Hyungwon is right. He is going to question why his core was inactive for years and why he needs to control his power now. If he looked into even one of our lies then it's done. He is never going to trust us again."

"That's a risk worth taking." Kihyun stares at Hoseok meaningfully. The emotions behind them escape Hyungwon but Hoseok catches it, immediately avoiding Kihyun's eyes. "He shouldn't have to lose his power again because you two are insecure and love playing God."

Kihyun gets up abruptly and strides towards the door.

Looking after him in shame, Hoseok gets up. "I think he is right. Let's give Minhyuk the chance he deserves. Everything else is up to the universe."

He leaves and it's only Hyungwon and Jooheon in the room now.

He looks at Jooheon who continues his staring match with the wall. Nothing in the conversation has apparently affected him. Hyungwon isn't even sure if he was even there with them or lost to the world of threads.

"What does the universe want, Jooheon?" He asks Jooheon off-handedly, already knowing that he won't get anything useful.

Jooheon doesn’t disappoint. "The universe wants many things. What it actually gets depends on you."

"Helpful as always.”

"He'll have to relearn his powers. He has no memory of how to use them. You would have to teach him."

Hyungwon sighs. "Why me?"

"You are core-bonded so you would be attuned to his power. You would be able to teach him better and also tell him how low he needs to keep his power."

"Lucky me.” Hyungwon finds himself staring at Jooheon’s hands holding Minhyuk’s in a loose grip. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you know about this?”

Jooheon blinks. “It doesn’t matter. You cannot change fate.”

***

"He is waking up! He is waking up!" Kihyun says as he swats Hoseok's arm in excitement.

Hyungwon holds his breath, waiting for the tremors or the screams.

Minhyuk opens his eyes slowly, eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly.

There are no tremors or screams. Instead, there is an anticlimactic groan followed by a raspy voice saying, "Ugh."

A collective sigh of relief.

Hoseok pulls Minhyuk into a hug.

"Wha-"

"Don't do that ever again," Hoseok chides.

"Huh?"

Instead of answering, Hoseok holds him tighter.

Hyungwon taps Hoseok’s arm. "Dude, please. The boy still needs to breathe."

Upon hearing Hyungwon's voice, Minhyuk wiggles his face out of where it’s pressed against Hoseok’s shoulders and squints at him.

"Ugh. Am I still alive?"

Isn't it just so _fun_ to hear someone regret being alive right after you almost shit your pants saving them?

Hoseok smacks the back of Minhyuk's head. "How many times have I told you to stop talking like that?"

"Sorry!"

Minhyuk gestures Kihyun to join them in their hug and Kihyun does. They start exchanging whispered words of affection and pats between them.

It's cute at first. Really heartwarming.

A minute passes and then another as his presence stays unacknowledged.

He stands there feeling like the ‘K’ in ‘Knife’, the tallest and the most useless.

For the first time, since coming back, he feels like an outsider. He looks at all three of them entangled: Hoseok and Minhyuk hugging each other tightly while Kihyun holding both of them loosely in his arms. He wonders where he fits in.

He used to be the ‘f’, the tallest and the most important...

Not liking this feeling, he folds his arms and starts tapping his foot loudly.

"I love you," Minhyuk says, tightening his grip, not taking the clue as Hyungwon clears his throat for the third time.

Hyungwon claps his hands loudly. "Okay! Look at all of you. So...cute and not insulting at all! Wouldn't it be cuter if we talked about how I swooped in at the last moment and saved the ungrateful bra- I mean, sweet baby bird Minhyuk's life?"

Finally, they separate. Hyungwon puffs his chest in anticipation.

"I made some stew for you and your favorite bread and jam, I’ll grab it," Kihyun says, ignoring Hyungwon.

"Thanks. What happened?" Minhyuk sits up and then immediately clutches his head.

Hoseok surges forward but Kihyun holds him back. "Don't worry. Probably just a headrush." Hoseok looks at him, his mouth in an 'O' shape. He nods and doesn't try to reach for Minhyuk again.

Hyungwon finds himself watching this carefully. Even if he knows Kihyun isn't the culprit, now that the seed is planted, he can't but notice and analyze Kihyun.

He notices how he held Hoseok back from going to Minhyuk's aid on a mere hunch. He is probably right but the thought of Hoseok buying it so easily, almost like instinct, doesn't sit right with Hyungwon.

Is it too much of a leap to think that Kihyun could easily get away with murder if he only had to convince Hoseok of his innocence?

Maybe Kihyun isn't the answer but it's the only lead that Hyungwon has. Well, he and Changkyun.

"Yeah. Just a headrush. Got up too quickly. Don't worry." Minhyuk says weakly, head resting on the pillow, hair askew around him. He puts a hand on his cheek and inhales deeply.

This will make a beautiful painting, Hyungwon thinks absent-mindedly.

"So, yeah, what happened?"

Minhyuk is looking at Kihyun and Hoseok who, instead of answering, look at Hyungwon. Minhyuk follows their line of sight, expression twisted like he ate a sour lemon when it lands on Hyungwon

_Ah ha! Who is the outsider now, bitches?_

With all eyes on him, Hyungwon takes the centre stage.

A slight smile, a hand delicately brushing his fringe back. "Well, the story begins with a-"

"Oh my god!" Kihyun exclaims.

"-a boy who was very dismissive of his health and-"

Minhyuk looks at Hoseok with a pout. "Is this going to take time?"

Hyungwon’s soft smile widens into something threatening. "Patience, kid. You don't want to tempt fate twice."

"Is it just me or did he threaten me?"

Hoseok sighs. "Let him finish. He has probably been practicing it for days now. He needs to get it out of his system. Please, continue."

"Thank you. So as I was saying, he was very dismissive of his health and didn't go to the doctor on time. He kept ignoring his symptoms until it got too much.”

He thumps his chest. “Then, one day a dashing and rich, handsome man knocked on his door. The boy’s feeble body couldn't take his charm so he upped and died like the loser he was.”

He frowns in thought. “I mean, you didn’t die, per se. But your heart definitely stopped so I am taking the poetic license here.”

He clears his throat. “So the boy died for like a few seconds but the handsome beau was a smart, highly intelligent and quick on his feet kinda man so he followed the right steps and resurrected the boy from the death's doorsteps. Moral of the story? Visit a doctor immediately when you have such symptoms." Hyungwon finishes with a flourish, a beatific smile on his face.

Minhyuk grabs Hoseok's arms and shakes it. "I don't know if it's because I almost died but it feels like I asked him to point me towards the nearest general store and he answered me by reciting a poem about the moon. Am I a hater or anyone else feeling that?"

Hyungwon deflates.

Kihyun snorts. "Short version is that you were having a deadly stroke because you let the core poisoning build up for so many days - by the way, I would be talking to you about hiding your symptoms from me and your brother. Hyungwon panicked and tried to nullify your inactive core. The energy transfer was too much strain on your body and your heart stopped beating. You were slowly dying so Hyungwon did CPR-

“Mouth to mouth?” Minhyuk squeaks.

“-which, I think, was probably very sloppy and thus ineffective. Oh, well, he also did other things and your heart started beating again." Kihyun continues over Minhyuk, eyes nervously darting towards Hoseok.

Minhyuk nods slowly, cheeks red. Surely, taking his time absorbing Hyungwon's heroic act. Understandable.

"So he killed me and then brought me back. Now, he wants an award for it?"

"What? No!" Hyungwon protests.

"Technically, yes." Kihyun intervenes.

Hoseok snickers and gently pushes Kihyun. "Stop teasing him. No, Minhyuk, he did actually save you." His voice turns serious. "If Hyungwon hadn't been there who knows what would have happened. I am so disappointed in you for not telling me or Kihyun or anyone else about these things. Core poisoning has serious symptoms. You must have been in so much pain. You lied to me with such conviction that I actually believed you. Is there something- Have I made you feel unsafe that you felt that you couldn't talk to me about this?"

Minhyuk looks down, fiddling with his fingers. "It's not that. I just...had a lot going on and I thought I was imagining my pain. I thought maybe I wasn't exercising enough and once I start the pain will pass?" He says quietly. He rubs the back of his head, eyes not meeting anyone's. "I am just Minhyuk, you know? Big things don't happen to me. I didn't think it would be something this serious." He finishes sheepishly.

_“Big things don't happen to me.”_

Hyungwon can't help but scoff.

Minhyuk looks at him, brows clumped together in annoyance. Hyungwon widens his eyes, doe-eyed and innocent.

Hoseok puts his hand on Minhyuk's head. "You should know better than that. There's no harm in seeing a doctor. If you don't like doctors, you can always talk to Kihyun."

"I am sorry. I thought that I was imagining it. I- I don't know.” He looks at them in confusion. “Lately, I have been having these really vivid dreams. I can’t remember them that well after waking up but I can remember bits and pieces.” He looks at his hands, voice thoughtful. “They feel almost like memories but I know that they are not my actual memories. Somehow, they feel more real than my own memories? I don't know. It's all very confusing and I was so caught up in this mess. I felt like I needed to sort that out first. It's all a jumbled mess."

Hoseok’s frown turns deeper, no shift in expression that can’t be sold as concern. He continues to stare at Minhyuk with understanding eyes. Almost too perfect in his role as an unknowing bystander. He must’ve had years to practice his lies and expressions by now.

For Hyungwon, it takes a conscious effort to not show his surprise. Minhyuk all but confirmed that not only had they botched neutralizing his core but now even his memory was coming back.

All that effort and heartache eight years ago would be useless if Minhyuk gained his memories back now.

All the growth that Minhyuk has done would be lost and as selfish as it is to think about it if Minhyuk gained his memories, all of them would lose Minhyuk.

"Hey, it could be related to core poisoning and now it would be better?" The lie comes easily from Kihyun’s lips.

Minhyuk brightens up. "Yeah, you are right! That's probably it. Exciting things are happening now. I am so excited."

He throws his hand towards Hyungwon who flinches reflexively. Minhyuk pouts and looks at his hands in confusion. "Why is nothing happening?"

"What did you...expect to happen?" Kihyun asks.

"Oh. Something? I mean I have powers now, right? I can feel my core moving."

Kihyun grins and even Hyungwon tries a hesitant smile.

"You can feel it?" Hoseok asks.

"Yeah!" He puts a hand on his core. "It's not beating like a heart but it's like- I don't know- there's this...sensation? Not sensation. I don't know? Just awareness, I guess. I don't know, I just feel excited!"

Hoseok chuckles and ruffles his hair. "Here I thought that we would surprise you with this news."

Minhyuk snickers. "You can't keep things inside my own body secret from me!"

_Oh, you'd be surprised, kid._

Minhyuk flings his hand towards Hyungwon again who raises an unimpressed eyebrow this time.

"But why is nothing happening?"

Hyungwon looks at his nails in affected leisure. "If I may?"

Minhyuk huffs. “Go ahead.”

"You would need to learn how to use your powers first."

Minhyuk immediately turns towards Hoseok, stars in his eyes, his imaginary tail wagging behind him.

Hoseok winces. "Uh. Hyungwon would be teaching you. He is better at it."

Minhyuk whines. "Why? His power is so lame! And he is so mean to me. Isn't there a DVD or a book with instructions, I'll learn it myself. Or better yet, I have been living without power for so long, what's my whole life?"

Kihyun starts coughing, doing a poor job at hiding his laughter.

"You know what? Sounds like a great idea to me." Hyungwon snaps.

Hoseok raises his palms. "Now now, kids. Minhyuk, Hyungwon is a great teacher. Give him a chance. Hyungwon, Minhyuk is so excited and he adores you so much, don't get offended by his teasing."

"I don't adore him. Stop lying!" Minhyuk mutters and then mimes zipping his mouth when Hyungwon looks at him in warning.

Hyungwon mimes taking the key from him and swallowing it.

Minhyuk looks up at Kihyun, his expression concerned. "Is he okay?"

Kihyun shrugs. "Barely." He gets up and pats Minhyuk's head. "I am going to get you some food now. You are going to eat it and then you are going to sleep. You need to take proper care of your body from now on."

He barely turns when Minhyuk asks the question that they all had been dreading. "Why was my core not working before?"

Cautiously, Kihyun turns around. He cants his head sideways as if lost thinking. "I am not sure but my theory is that your parents might have stopped your core when you were born. It's a common practice to halt the core in premature infants since their body is too weak. If stopped at that time, they would have to trigger it to start it again which they do after a few months once the baby is stable and strong. Since your parents died and the orphanage didn’t have any records of you, no one probably thought of that and it stayed inactive." Kihyun says in a careful drawl as if he is theorizing based on facts. But just theorizing. Even Hyungwon buys it and that’s a little…

_Concerning._

Minhyuk hums thoughtfully.

Hyungwon stops himself from fidgeting.

There are so many holes in the story but this is what they had agreed on.

All Minhyuk needs to do is a little research and he’ll figure out that no such case has lived past 5 much less 21 years of age. It’s a thing of the past anyway. Currently, these cases are rare due to centralized medical records.

As lacking as it is, this barely feasible narrative is all they have got in the ever-growing saga of rewriting Minhyuk's past.

As manipulative as it sounds - and fuck that, it not only sounds manipulative, it is manipulative - they all are counting on Minhyuk's apathy towards his own health, aversion to doctors and hospitals, and his expected excitement from his "new" power will be enough to prevent him from digging into it deeper.

Minhyuk doesn't disappoint. He gives a callous shrug. "Sounds about right. Maybe, that's it. Ooh! Hyungwon touching me with his power probably triggered it into activating again!"

Kihyun nods. "Yeah, we think so too.”

“We can go to a doctor, someone specializing in cores, and get more answers." Hoseok offers.

It's better to offer other options themselves. Not only would they be able to gauge the level of Minhyuk's curiosity but also if he agrees, they could always bribe a doctor and tell Minhyuk the same thing.

Minhyuk shakes his head quickly. "No. No. No. I am good." Hyungwon wants to sigh out in relief but of course, in true Minhyuk fashion, the respite doesn't last long. "Besides, I am so excited about my power. I am going to be, like, so strong now." He does a showy karate motion with his hands. His technique leaves much to be desired but he makes up for it by making the sounds of cutting through air with his mouth. "I wonder what kind of power I have."

Hyungwon looks at the walls in the room, so beautiful and crack-less. "Ah. Can’t wait to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I am sorry that it took me such a long time to update and I have a long list of excuses but the first and the foremost excuse is that I didn't like anything that I wrote. Usually, when I write something, there's at least one scene that I like which makes me excited to post it soon to show it to you guys but this time, I hated everything so I kept writing and taking breaks in between while chasing that one scene/para/sentence but I didn't find it and I think it's more on me than my writing. Finally, I decided to just put this chapter out into the universe anyway. So if you like something, let me know? It will be super appreciated.
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mellow_minhyuk) || [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/MellowMinhyuk)
> 
> Next chapter: Past - Shownu and Hyungwon go on a trip. Present - Hyungwon teaches Minhyuk how to use his power and they go on a trip and share bed and other fanfiction tropes.
> 
> I wrote a fem Kihyuk, if anyone is interested: [Mindless Mumblings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23376664?view_full_work=true)


	8. The Monster; the Man - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recap: 
> 
> Past - Hyungwon saves Minhyuk, puts him up in Kihyun's place, realises that they unknowingly made a core-bond, struggles to separate and control his emotions from Minhyuk due to the core bond.  
Present - Hyungwon calls Minhyuk an impotent virgin. Changkyun brings up Kihyun's name as a suspect, Hyungwon saves Minhyuk from core poisoning, Minhyuk's core have healed and started again. 
> 
> Terms used: 
> 
> Regressives - People with inactive cores.  
Dominants - People with active cores.

****PAST** **

"But, like, you get it, right?" Doyoung's excited voice cuts through the din of insects that Hyungwon’s wandering mind had unintentionally focused on.

"Sure," Hyungwon responds, lazy gaze fixed on the empty grey car parked on the other side of the road.

To be honest, he is absolutely not sure of what Doyoung said or has been saying for the past four hours.

"Of course, you get it. If there's anyone who understands parental pressure, it's going to be you!"

Hyungwon opens the car window. Immediately, a cold gust of nightly wind ruffles his hair and pinks his nose. Besides him, Doyoung shivers. Feeling vindicated, Hyungwon keeps the window open.

“Yup. That's me. The poster boy for parental pressure."

Doyoung rubs his arms in a showy move. Hyungwon ignores it, fixing his gaze on the stationary car again.

Among all the menial tasks that his father piles on him, his least favorite has to be the stakeout missions. If it's not the boredom of sitting and staring at nothing for hours at a time, then it's the occasional novice junior that he is teamed up with.

Why did Hyunwoo have to rise in the ranks and be above staking out missions? Why couldn’t he be constantly demoted by his father like Hyungwon is? Why does he have to be so perfect and never fuck up?

“Hyungwon, could you close the window? Please, I am cold.”

“Oh, I am so sorry! I didn’t notice.”

Hyungwon closes the window and gives Doyoung a polite smile.

Doyoung takes it happily and continues prattling. “Thanks! So, yeah, I was in my second year of engineering college and I just cracked, you know? I dropped out and got in this self-discovery period-”

“Shut up.”

From the corner of his eye, Hyungwon notices a movement. Sensing his seriousness, Doyoung stills.

A dark figure, short and round, comes out of the surrounding woods and hurriedly moves towards the parked car. Even in a trench coat and hat, the silhouette bends and curves like that of a portly man, but its gait - fluid yet unbalanced - gives the appearance of a humanoid creature rather than an actual human.

The figure lifts its arm and thrusts it in front of the car door, the motion like that of a puppet on strings. The evil twins - distance and dark, hamper Hyungwon’s vision. But from what he can make out, he sees no car keys or a gesture of turning them in when the car door busts open itself; the force of it enough to shake the car.

The figure sits in the driver’s seat and lifts its arm. Instead of hands, there's something-

"Um, why does he have black smoke for hands?"

Hyungwon looks at Doyoung and finds his eyes glowing green - night vision, __of course__. His father knows his shit when it comes to scouting and assigning.

"Can you make out its face?"

"No. It's all smoke," Doyoung says with a frown.

***

"God, fuck. You'd think someone who is a prime target for bribe-taking traffic cops would drive a little faster."

The car that they have been "chasing" for the past hour continues crawling like a snail after a hearty meal, forcing Doyoung to drive even slower to maintain the distance.

Why are they even bothering? Clearly, the figure knows that it’s being followed if all the unnecessary turns are to be heeded.

Hyungwon feels robbed. At this point, he might as well get out, shake a smoke hand, and offer to push the figure’s car himself.

He leans his head against the window, cheek in his palm, the slow drag of the car making him drowsy.

After another twenty minutes of participating in the lamest car chase of all time, Doyoung finally halts. A few yards ahead of them, the figure steps out of the car.

Under the yellow streetlights, the abnormality of the figure is even more apparent. It’s short and bulbous. Under its comically big hat, a maroon muffler covers the lower half of the face while a pair of black glasses cover the upper.

Its appearance is bizarre as it is and Hyungwon hasn’t even gotten to the shadows emanating out of it in wisps.

The shadows are smoke-like. They have an animated quality to them. They never break off and drift away even as they continue shifting and twisting like a severed lizard’s tail. The texture of the shadows itself is light; translucent. Instead of the smoke rising from pyres or factories, it reminds Hyungwon of the smoke coming from burning incense.

A suitcase in one hand, the figure tumbles towards its destination; a local alcohol shop directly across from where it parked its car.

"Did we just follow a freaky ability-user doing errands?" Doyoung says.

Hyungwon shakes his head, a finger pressed against his lips.

The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man swaddled in thick layers of clothing, yawns into his hand and then offers it for a shake. He retreats it immediately with a sheepish expression on his face. The action speaks of familiarity. The figure's hat moves in a nodding gesture. The shopkeeper puts an envelope on the counter and takes out a bundle of cash from it, his mouth moving.

"He is counting the cash for the shadow man," Doyoung says, leaning further in his seat.

"Hmm."

Something doesn't feel right.

Satisfied with the count, the figure nods and puts its suitcase on the counter. It lifts its arm but, again, no hand comes out, instead wisps of shadows intertwine with each other and unlock the suitcase with a loud click before untangling and receding into the trenchcoat's sleeve.

The shopkeeper peers into the suitcase, a mad kind of childish glee lighting his face, his eyes wide like the full moon hanging in the sky tonight. With awe, he takes out a small vial. It’s ornate in design, made of thick glass, like the ones of vintage perfumes. Its size and width are almost the same as Hyungwon's thumb.

The shadows stretch and contort to close the suitcase shut. The figure's hat tilts downward; a farewell nod that goes unnoticed by the shopkeeper whose eyes stay fixed on the vial - an inhuman fervour in his expression.

"That was a lot of money for one tiny vial of something," Doyoung remarks.

"It was."

The figure crosses the road.

"What do you think it was?"

Instead of moving towards its car, the figure starts shuffling in their direction.

"Let's find out."

"Shouldn't we run away?" Doyoung whispers, gripping the steering wheel.

Hyungwon looks at the figure with its brown trench coat and bleeding shadows, holding tight onto its prized possession. "No. I want that suitcase."

"That wasn't the mission. It was just to observe where the car goes, and what business the driver does!"

Hyungwon takes out a pistol from his backpack and pulls the safety off. "And what business does the driver do exactly? He could be selling some grade-A essence oil for all we know."

"Oh, come on!"

Hyungwon fixes his aim on the figure, now a step away from the car, and checks with himself. He feels calm. The sleep has evaporated from his loose limbs, leaving his body cold and alert. There’s no white noise or anxiety. Clearly, the past week of studying, meditating on his inner world, and doing intricate thread work under Hoseok and Kihyun’s careful tutelage has proved to be effective. He has managed to seal Minhyuk and his emotions separately without any leaking from either side. __Well, mostly.__ He did that while working, passing up the chance to go to Hyunwoo's trip next week. To be honest - he thinks of Kihyun’s grudging admiration - he has been riding a little high on this achievement. He has never felt so secure and confident in himself.

The figure stops on the driver's side, standing directly in front of a terrified Doyoung.

"Don't open the window," Hyungwon orders.

“You don’t say!”

For a moment, the figure says still. The shadows on its face move languidly. This close, Hyungwon can see the thick strands of shadows wiggle like worms - a grotesque picture that Hyungwon can't look away from. The animation of the shadows; the way they quiver and breathe, it makes them look alive. Suddenly, the figure lifts its arm. Some shadows slither from its sleeve and conjoin to form a thick limb. They smack themselves against the window, the sound violent and loud.

Doyoung jerks back in surprise.

"It's okay. It’s trying to scare us. There's nothing to worry about," Hyungwon says, finger hovering over the trigger in immediate contrast to his calm tone.

The shadows over the figure’s face start tossing wildly as it angrily continues thumping the window. Intimidation. If the figure wanted, it would have left the window in pieces by now.

“Hello! Do you want us to open the window?” Hyungwon shouts.

Hyungwon isn’t sure if the figure can hear him over the noise until it nods slightly.

“Sorry! I can’t. Mommy warned me against talking to strangers.”

There goes any notion of the figure thinking that Hyungwon can be intimidated.

Doyoung looks at Hyungwon in disbelief.

Hyungwon gives him a comforting smile and lies, “Don’t worry. We are perfectly safe here.”

Man proposes, ugly shadow thing disposes because as soon as Hyungwon predicts, the figure takes an ominious step back. Hyungwon grips his pistol tightly.

The trench coat pop opens and parts, the buttons flying into the night.

“Uh. I am a minor?”

The figure discards the law like its now abandoned suitcase on the ground. It pulls its shadows to the center, forming a big bulge. Hyungwon watches the shadows swirl, stretch and expand in fascination like a young boy hypnotized by the high tides of a tsunami.

The figure thrusts its arms forward. The bulge dissolves into thick tentacles which throw themselves against the car, shaking it violently.

“It’s going to topple us,” Hyungwon deduces smartly.

“No shit, Sherlock!”

Hyungwon sighs. “Let’s get out. Hoseok will be pissed if he had to pick me up during ass o’clock. We need the car intact.”

Another thump against the car. One more and the car is going to flip over.

Doyoung grits his teeth. “How about our bones?”

Hyungwon shrugs and unlocks the door. “They heal. Father offers great medical coverage.”

“Fuck you,” Doyoung exclaims, batting Hyungwon’s hands.

“Uh-huh.” Hyungwon grabs his arm and drags him outside with him. “You chose this profession.”

Outside, the figure stares at them from behind its big black glasses. Its tentacles are now hanging in the air, the car between them a poor excuse for an obstacle.

Hyungwon seeks a primitive comfort in being taller than the figure. But, apparently, the figure is also a world-renowned mind reader and contortionist because as soon as Hyungwon acknowledges this thought, the figure stretches and thins, turning tall and gangly.

Hyungwon lifts his head to meet the figure's figurative eyes. "You model?"

"Please, shut up," Doyoung says, a tremble slipping out in his voice.

"Don't be scared. Think of it as further self-discovery," Hyungwon responds, raising his gun at the figure.

The figure ignores Hyungwon - which is always a good choice to make according to Kihyun - and starts moving around the car to either kill and eat them, or offer them some tea and have a civilized debate about the contemporary state of polarising politics. Who knows? The universe is a mystery.

The figure moves closer, its shadow tentacles writhing grossly.

Hyungwon bangs his hand on the car. "Oi! I just told you that I am a minor. Close your ugly trench coat." He makes a show of covering his eyes, and waves at the figure's display of tentacles extravaganza. "I can see your wiggly bits, mate."

The figure pauses and stares down to where Hyungwon is pointing. Honestly, things are way too easy sometimes.

Hyungwon aims where a heart should be and shoots, followed by another where a brain should be.

The bullets reach the figure fast and pass through it even faster.

Hyungwon tilts his head. "Huh. Since you could push things, I was hoping for some semi-solid matter in there that could retain a bullet but apparently, you can control the form of the matter. Cool to know." He fires another shot which faces the same fate. He shrugs sheepishly. "Sorry. Had to confirm."

Caught up, the figure stretches a tentacle to grab Hyungwon. As soon as the tentacle touches him, it evaporates.

"My apologies but I am ability proof," Hyungwon says, tongue-in-cheek. "You can confirm too."

Another two tentacles reach him and evaporate.

He smirks. "Now what?"

Hyungwon pockets his gun and steps towards the figure, hands out. The appearance had shaken Hyungwon off - made him think of the extra-terrestrial or unknown, after meeting Minhyuk nothing really seems fantastical, but now that he has tangible evidence that it’s just an ability user underneath all those shadows, he feels confident.

He rolls his sleeves up, putting on a show. His father says in confrontations like these one’s ability should be the climax, and before that, it’s all about the build-up.

The figure stares at him, unmoving.

Hyungwon ruffles his hair and smiles. Now, this is the part that he loves. He turns to Doyoung. “Catch him from the other side.”

Doyoung nods. Hyungwon rubs his hands and moves.

Hyungwon’s first punch to the figure’s head passes through the evaporating shadows, predictably making contact with nothing. It leaves his hand blue and ice cold as if he just ran it through a cold waterfall, sensations prickle at his skin for a moment before submitting to his power and vanishing. It’s unsettling. There shouldn’t have been that momentary sensation.

The alarming thought gets pushed back when Hyungwon’s next kick strikes gold; his knee touches something solid, and a very human cry of pain comes from the shadow. It starts struggling; hat, glasses, and muffler falling away. With a vague idea in mind, Hyungwon grabs where his knee had touched, finds something solid. He channels his power there, rapidly the dense shadows start repleting; the trench coat falling next.

A hand grabs him by his neck and pulls him backward, presses the cold nozzle of a gun against the side of his head. The action is followed by a chokehold.

“Move and I shoot you.”

“Doyoung?”

Great. It was a trap. So much for his father’s scouting and hiring skills. This is why they need a HR department.

Doyoung stays silent. Hyungwon looks at the figure reclaiming its shadows; thickening them, weaving them together, and wearing them like a cloak to hide. Hyungwon has seen and heard enough though,

He turns his face. “Are you an idiot? I was going to fucking kill the kid. Couldn’t you have brought an adult? Dickhead.”

“Shut up and look ahead.” Pushing the gun against his head, Doyoung pushes his head forward.

“You okay?” Doyoung asks the kid, voice soft and stoic. It’s a tone that Hyungwon hears from Doyoung for the first time; it reminds him of Hoseok. The kid nods behind the cloak. Doyoung nods back with a relieved smile, crushing Hyungwon’s neck with his elbow. “Listen, carefully.”

“My ears are all yours,” Hyungwon says, voice strained.

Doyoung kicks the back of his shin. “One more word and I am going to shoot you.”

Hyungwon nods.

“Good. Now, carefully and silently, without any protest, you are going to follow us to that car.” Doyoung nods at the car that they were following.

Hyungwon nods, obedient. The car is far enough to seek a moment of distraction and jostle the gun away from him.

Silently, they walk. Nothing around them gives away the abnormality of the situation. The air around them is cold and light; unassuming. The din of the insects stays uninterrupted. Hyungwon wonders if they look like three drunk friends walking home from afar.

Instead of stepping beside Hyungwon, the shadow-user had walked over to Doyoung’s other side as if scared of Hyungwon. Might as well. Hyungwon is sick of kids with abilities.

A cold breeze catches them, entangles with their clothes. Doyoung shivers and that’s all that Hyungwon needs to take a risk and hit the gun away from his hand. In the next breath, he pushes his head back, hitting Doyoung’s nose. Elbowing his stomach, Hyungwon moves away, grabbing the shadow-user’s wrist. With the kid in his front, struggling as their shadows recede, Hyungwon takes out his pistol and shoots at Doyoung’s legs.

If he had been a threat, Hyungwon would have aimed for his head. But, no, father would like to hear from him. And he is curious too.

He shoots twice more. Doyoung crumples, a splat on the road. His eyes closed in pain, legs twitching in his own blood.

With that taken care of, Hyungwon focuses on the shadow-user. The shadows have receded completely, all clothes and accessories of the facade including the suitcase are lying on the road. Hyungwon can only hope that some vials are intact.

As expected the kid underneath is small - a little taller than Minhyuk, they are wearing a grey hoodie and pants; the plainness of them makes Hyungwon think of a jail uniform. It’s then that Hyungwon notices the small black shoes, the only real part of the shadow facade the kid had created before, no wonder the gait had seemed awkward. There is no struggle from the kid as Hyungwon lifts their hoodie.

The face of the child is small, his features scared, his cheeks streaked with black tears. Hyungwon stares at it for a moment - a moment too quick to register anything. He can’t afford to have any sympathy right now.

Hyungwon covers his face and picks up the suitcase.

He can’t save everyone.

With a hand on the kid’s shoulder, he leads him to his car, ignoring the kid’s sniffles. Maybe his father would be better than these people and wait for him to come of age before using him.

He thinks of himself. He thinks of Hoseok. And then he puts a lid on his thoughts and doesn’t think anymore. Instead, he listens to their footsteps. His are light and quick like he has been trained to; the child’s slow and dragging. Hyungwon wonders if the kid is an abandoned orphan or if he was stolen.

If he was kidnapped, maybe Hyungwon could return him?

But, where would he put him up till then? He can’t put him up with Kihyun. He can’t burden him anymore. Then, there’s the unpredictable element, Minhyuk, who has taken an extreme liking to monopolizing Hyungwon’s attention. Who knows how he would react to another kid in the household. He can’t put Minhyuk at risk on a whim like this.

Minhyuk has finally gained some weight and strength. He still sleeps a lot but he hasn’t nodded into his soup face-first fast asleep like the initial days, so that’s an improvement. There’s a healthy pink in his cheeks, his skin looks softer. He has opened up a little more with his words, smiles, and pouts; gained a little bit of childish mischievousness that Hyungwon knows is going to be the bane of Kihyun’s existence soon, and honestly, he can’t wait for it. He is studying, playing, eating, and questioning, gaining more and more semblance to a normal kid. Whenever Hyungwon opens the core connection, he can feel Minhyuk’s anxiety and fears have substantially subsided - they are still there, but less viscous and encompassing and, well, __less__. The nights still haunt Minhyuk but Hyungwon is hopeful.

Their ward is growing wonderfully - at least, that’s what Hoseok and Kihyun tell him - and Hyungwon cannot, will not, compromise that for altruism.

Maybe, Hyunwoo can sort him out? The last time they talked, his orphanage was full, but Hyungwon is sure if he asked, Hyunwoo would be able to figure out something. He seems like the kind to find solutions when no one else can. But, can he trust Hyunwoo? Trust him enough to ask him to hide it from his father, and not expect him to hold it over Hyungwon’s head and blackmail him?

The kid trips, Hyungwon holds him up and puts down his hood.

A few more steps and they reach the car.

Well, Kihyun trusts Hyunwoo. Not enough to tell him about how he is using Jooheon for Minhyuk but enough. The question is: is that enough for Hyungwon?

Hyungwon opens the car door, and grabs the kid by his shoulders, ignoring his wide fearful eyes. Hyungwon’s power seeps through his fingertips. There. That should keep the kid’s core inactive for an hour.

He pushes suitcase in first and then the kid. He goes around to the driver’s side when a bullet pierces through his shoulder. He turns around with his pistol raised when another bullet hits him in the stomach. Grunting, he puts an arm over it and aims in Doyoung’s direction. His brows droop in confusion when he finds Doyoung unconscious, his gun lying far away from his form where Hyungwon had kicked it.

“Stop, right there!” A slurred voice comes.

Hyungwon looks to his right and finds the source. It’s the shopkeeper. The man wobbles on his feet, holding his gun with both hands.

Hyungwon is pissed. He should have been more careful instead of drifting away in thoughts like that. With his training and experience, this man shouldn’t have been able to lodge two bullets into him so easily.

The man stumbles on his feet.

God. Hyungwon deserves his father’s shit for this one.

A sharp pain pierces through his stomach radiating from the bullet wound. He curls his arm around it, the other arm raised to shoot at the shopkeeper. Suddenly an avalanche of foreign feelings - anxiety, anger, fear; dark, viscous, congealed, choking - buries him under. It makes him crumple at the waist, the pistol slipping from his fingers. The shopkeeper takes a shaky aim at him and hits his knee. Hyungwon topples over, and passes out.

***

When he wakes up, Hyungwon is laid flat on his back. There is an echo of muffled sounds around him as if he’s underwater. His head feels clear, he checks with himself and comes up with the same feeling of "clear", even peaceful. Conspicuously clear and peaceful, as if wiped clean.

That can’t be right though because he is aware of everything.

He is aware of what happened, he is aware of where he was and what he was doing, he knows his mind, his conscience, his values. He is aware of all of them. He contains all of them. But, he feels disconnected. He racks his brain to come up with the right phrase, the right analogy to make sense of this extremely alien feeling that should be alarming due to its unfamiliarity but isn’t.

He opens his eyes. There is darkness clinging to the corner of his vision. He blinks and blinks but it stays there. Above him, there is a white ceiling and he wonders if he is in a hospital. He touches his wound. There is nothing. He is healed. Not by Kihyun or a doctor. There is no mark to signify that. He should be alarmed by that. Again, he knows that. He is in possession of that knowledge. But.

Disconnected from himself. Unplugged. That’s what he feels like.

He traces the ceiling for a clue and notes that it’s not a white ceiling. It lacks solidity. What it is is nothing. He is staring at nothing. It’s space but instead of black, it’s white. Pure and loud white.

Did he die? Is this heaven?

“Hello.”

Hyungwon looks to his left. Minhyuk is lying down beside him, his hands folded over his stomach. He is wearing a sky blue night suit, the one Hyungwon had seen him in when they last met. Is Hyungwon imagining him?

“Hey, Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk turns his face towards Hyungwon and smiles brightly; all front two teeth and the apple of the cheeks.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course,” Hyungwon says without really thinking.

“Good,” Minhyuk says and turns back to stare at nothing. “It’s pretty in here. Tell me when you want to go back, I’ll take you.”

“Okay,” Hyungwon says with a smile.

Some time passes. Hyungwon can’t tell how much. He has nothing to measure it against. Not even his own breaths.

Maybe, he really did die and this is heaven. Plain. White. Calm. With time flowing like a never-ending river. Or maybe it’s hell. Plain and white and calm with time flowing like a never-ending river.

It’s never-ending like the universe because Hyungwon can’t measure it. He has been rid of any means to measure. His knowledge has been put away at a distance, in a locked transparent box. He can see it and feels its existence in an abstract way. But.

It’s like he knows what the color blue is but he can’t visualize it. It’s confusing and he has been given all the time in the universe to unravel it.

Hell. It’s hell.

“Minhyuk, are we in hell?”

“No, silly,” Minhyuk says through a giggle. He does that now. Giggles suddenly as if the joy inside him is so much that it has to leak through his mouth. It’s endearing most of the time. Not right now. Right now, it’s disturbing. In an abstract way.

He is calm. He is subdued. He is dimmed. He is unplugged. He is underwater.

He realizes that Minhyuk’s voice isn’t echoey. From the beginning, it was crisp and clear. Even his own voice is echoey but not Minhyuk’s.

It dawns on him to look down at himself. There is nothing. He is pure-white nothing.

He looks at Minhyuk. He is fleshed out; oversaturated with color.

“Minhyuk, can you get me out?”

“I can,” Minhyuk says with a grin. “But, can you wait a little? I like it here.”

“Sure. Take your time.”

“Can I come here at night from now on?”

“You feel nice here?” Hyungwon says, voice bouncing off the whiteness and then coming back subdued; a weak echo.

Minhyuk nods in quick succession.

“Of course, you can come here. Maybe I’ll join you sometime.”

At this, Minhyuk gives him a puzzled smile.

The echo around them increases. It feels louder than before. There’s a changed quality to it.

“You’ll always be here though.”

“I will?”

“Of course.” Minhyuk nods, brows furrowed. “It’s your-” His mouth pouts, eyes growing teary.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I will look for the word in the dictionary with you later. Don’t cry,” Hyungwon soothes.

Minhyuk sniffs, nodding. He raises his ear.

“Sir is here. He’ll take care of you now.”

“He will,” Hyungwon says.

Minhyuk grabs his hand. Images flash through Hyungwon’s mind, too quick to grasp. The only thing that Hyungwon notices is red - a lot of red. He tries to see more and his awareness catches on a grey hoodie drenched with blood. Something prickles at him before the darkness sticking to the corner of his eyes covers him completely.

_ _“I’ll always protect you. Goodbye, sir.” _ _

***

"Fuck."

When Hyungwon wakes up, his head is heavy and his throat desert dry. The bright light of the streetlight hits him directly in the eye. There's the smell of blood in the air. It makes his eyes tear up, a beam of pain pulses through his brain and settles down in his bones. He clenches his eyes shut, features scrunched in pain.

"Oh, thank god."

Hoseok's voice calms his racing heart, the anxiety drumming below the surface lowering.

Hoseok gathers him in his arms and the movement makes Hyungwon’s head throb, rips a loud cry of pain from him.

"Oh, thank god," Hoseok repeats.

"Am I alive?" Hyungwon rasps. The previous memories of the white place catching up to him.

"Yeah. Yeah," Hoseok says, tugging up his shirt to see the wound. "For now."

"Did Minhyuk send you here?" Hyungwon asks. The question seems extremely important.

"Yeah. He told me your location. Told me you were in danger." Hoseok scans him. "We need to get you healed soon. That's a lot of blood," he says to himself. His hands are shaky as he lifts Hyungwon's hand, puts a cloth in it, and presses it down on the wound. "Keep it pressed, okay?"

Hyungwon swallows and nods. "Is the kid alive?"

This makes Hoseok pause. "What do you mean?"

Hyungwon mouths it again, breaking into a cough. The cotton in his mouth is choking him.

Hoseok lifts his chin and pours some water in his mouth, expression stoic. "No, he is dead."

Hyungwon nods. An image of him crushing his core goes through his head. He knows he didn't do it but the memory settles behind his eyelids as his own. "I think Minhyuk took control of me and killed them."

Hoseok nods and lifts him up. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

For the first time since Hyungwon saw Minhyuk in that field - puppet-like lifeless limbs thrashing around, eyes blown wide and unaware of the utter destruction he was causing, painted in blood - fear encompasses Hyungwon whole, freezes his limbs.

He thinks of Minhyuk’s innocent face as he asked if he could stay in Hyungwon’s conscious, and him permitting it easily.

Hyungwon feels fear like he has never felt - the sensations physical. The ice surface has broken, he has slipped into a freezing river and it’s not death that scares him. It’s the lack of control, the futility of his actions, the self-hatred for being so careless, for underestimating nature, for thinking he could ever win over it that binds him as he sinks. He thinks of Minhyuk smiling brightly at him in the white place, he thinks of Minhyuk killing three people without any regret.

The thought is followed by the memory of Minhyuk putting bullet after bullet in the shopkeeper’s head at point-blank and then swerving around to drop a stone down on an unconscious Doyoung’s face, killing him so cruelly. Minhyuk did that. Minhyuk did that using Hyungwon. Minhyuk killed two men like that, and then went into the car, pulled out a crying child, ignored his trusting eyes, ignored Hyungwon's wishes, ignored humanity, and in a quick moment, manipulated his core using Hyungwon’s power, and made him suffocate and die on his own shadows. Minhyuk isn't a normal child. Nothing about this is "normal". This isn't even human. This is monstrous. He saved a monster, he raised a monster, he attached himself and gave access to his being to a monster.

He grabs Hoseok's collar, uncaring of the blood that flows freely from his stomach.

"I want to be away from that monster. Far away," he chokes.

His hand slips away, leaves a trail of blood on Hoseok's shirt.

Hoseok pauses and then nods.

Hyungwon breathes in a shaky inhale, presses the wound on his stomach. Images of him standing over the dead kid, panting, staring at his lifeless eyes flashes in neon behind his eyelids. Bile backs up in his dry throat.

"I got you. I'll make it all okay," Hoseok says.

__I should have let him die__, Hyungwon thinks.

_ _***_ _

****PRESENT** **

__Have you forgotten the past-_ _

The thought is chopped into half by a drop of cold water falling on Hyungwon’s forehead.

Like a river cutting through weather-hardened hills, it travels down his nose, flattening and spreading on his parted lips. Hyungwon presses them together, absorbing it into his being before opening his mouth with an icy exhale.

He tilts his head up, and a hundred more rivers mark his flesh. He blurs his awareness and recalibrates his senses to focus on nothing except the artificial rain of the shower drumming against every inch of him. Slow crooked fingers rake through his hair while he washes off the honey-scented shampoo, humming lowly to a random Bach’s cello suite. No room for thoughts in the overload of sensations that he has concocted for his shower today.

His fingers reach for his shoulder blades and dig into the muscles there as if that’s what’s wrong with him today. Just a knot from a bad sleeping position. That’s all.

It’s definitely not Minhyuk and the myriad of problems that the boy carries with himself along with that stupid grin of his.

No. Not at all.

It has been a week since Minhyuk woke up, and since then, not only is Hyungwon dealing with business and investigations - that have led to nowhere - but also Minhyuk himself who has made it his life’s mission to annoy Hyungwon into apologizing or confessing.

If he continues cutting away at Hyungwon, something has to give.

What that ‘something’ is, Hyungwon isn’t sure yet.

What he is sure of is that his will is made of the hardest of ice walls; infuriatingly impervious to even thousands of burning suns, and even then Minhyuk makes him feel on edge. One mischievous smile here, one careless touch there, and he can feel the charge between his fingers while he resists the urge to grab Minhyuk’s chin and ask him what right does he have to smile at him like this.

His firm control showing deep cracks at one innocent touch is terrifying.

But in the sickest of hedonistic ways, it’s also thrilling.

His excruciatingly sweet torture started when Minhyuk was ordered to stay on the second floor, and out of sight of the other members running around the house, while recovering. So, naturally, the best course of action for Minhyuk who was __bubbling__ with energy after a spell of bed rest was to get said bubbling energy out of him by bugging the other sole occupant of the second floor: Hyungwon.

For the past week, Hyungwon’s mornings begin with incessant knocking accompanied with a cheery and hopeful, “Please tell me that you died!” followed by afternoons where Minhyuk sits cross-legged on one corner of the table in Hyungwon’s study, chattering mindlessly. His attempts to annoy Hyungwon so terribly transparent while Hyungwon tries his best to tune him out with the ineffectual taps of his keys.

And, yet, all of this has nothing on the evenings that are a combination of Minhyuk bragging to him that he can do a headstand and falling on his head, forcing Hyungwon to catch him, or Minhyuk dragging him to watch shitty overdramatic survival shows while saying things like, “This is a battle of the strongest of ability-users globally! This is me prepping for my own training, don’t you want me to learn?” and “Kyungsoo looks so handsome with a shaved head even if his power is kind of lame. Turning his fingers into sentient vines? Lame and gross. Who needs that in their life? Wait, should I shave my head? But, my head is so weirdly shaped. Do you think it’s weirdly shaped? It is, isn’t it! Is that why you won’t confess your undying love to me?”

But, perhaps, what will actually end up killing Hyungwon are the nights that end with a sleepy Minhyuk lightly hugging him around the shoulders, and muttering a drowsy good night with a tired pout before finally leaving for his own room.

With this constant exposure to Minhyuk-radiations, Hyungwon was supposed to be growing immune.

But, there’s something about today.

Something indistinguishable that has made Hyungwon stand for an hour in the shower to get rid of the restless energy that has taken a hold of him since he woke up. It’s a futile quest. The coldness of the shower has made him more alert, if anything. The restlessness has been prodding at his mind, stretching him thin between his present desire and past cautions.

Yesterday, Hyungwon was out all day with Jackson. Betting on horse races, golfing, lounging, dining, drinking - all the while dodging Jackson’s analytical gaze as they both pretended that they weren’t looking for each other's weakness behind friendly smiles because Hoseok had accepted the invitation for him and sent him to Jackson’s penthouse with a pat on his head and two juniors to “build camaraderie”.

And that wasn’t a problem. That was his job. The problem was that at exactly eight in the morning while sitting in the backseat, with his chin propped on his hand, gaze fixed outside the window of the moving car, he found himself thinking of how right around this time the alarm clock delivered straight from the steaming loins of Satan, otherwise known as Minhyuk, would start banging on his door like a murderous caveman.

Then the problem intensified further when around two in the afternoon, as the raven thoroughbred that Hyungwon had made a bet on won the race, and Jackson gave him a hard pat on his back like a child while calling him lucky with a sharp smile, Hyungwon thought of Minhyuk leaning back on his hands, crossed legs bouncing and hitting the table with excitement while recalling that one time when he found a wallet and gave it to the cops, and then became the prime suspect in a murder case. Then after half-an-hour of almost impressive and elaborate storytelling complete with different voices and wild gestures, and too much, “Are you listening?” said to Hyungwon, who was sitting there with his eyes fixed on Minhyuk, fingers lying uselessly beside his forgotten laptop, completely engrossed in the story, that, “Actually, I am lying. I made that up! For fun!”

Then the problem continued to build up to a catastrophic level, when around seven in the evening, a handsome senior from __Carnelian__ suggestively brushed his shoulder while Hyungwon was sipping a beer on the porch, and his mind instantly thought of Minhyuk who right now would have been shaking him by the shoulder, telling him that he is so sure that his handsome Kyungsoo would win this task and if he didn’t, he would give Hyungwon a lap-dance free of charge if Hyungwon was up for a bet.

And it all came crashing down in the worst of ways around 2 AM when Hyungwon staggered in through the door and nodded at Hoseok who was working at the dinner table, a stack of files in front of him, eyes alert with a black cup of coffee in hand. Hoseok nodded back with an amused smile as Hyungwon dragged his bones up the stairs and then trudged through the corridor of the second floor, stopping at Minhyuk’s door.

In his sleepy-drunk-exhaustion induced delirium, Hyungwon thought that Minhyuk would come out this instant, to wish him goodnight with a hug. Except, why would he do that? He is not going to stay up and wait for Hyungwon, and then magically sense that he is standing in front of his door, waiting for a treat like a puppy. So, after a minute of standing there, he went into his room, took off his shoes, and without changing out of his clothes crashed on his bed nose-first.

He woke up all by himself, without any knocking, and felt an out-of-place sense of emptiness inside him; the kind you feel on rainy nights. Then that was followed by this great feeling of doom, the kind that you feel on the top floor of a skyscraper during earthquakes, because Hyungwon isn’t stupid. He knows himself and he knows what’s happening.

He knows what __this __is the beginning of.

He is also aware how every time he gets close to Minhyuk, catastrophes happen.

Dragged back into the present, he shakes his head, water spilling around him like his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he inhales the rich scent of pine all around him, and zeroes his awareness on another drop slowly carving its path from his neck to shoulder. A moment that he drags until his sick brain starts thinking of soft lips tracing the same path. He gives his head a stern shake, chastising the delay.

What is it about today that has made his brain make light of his past with Minhyuk and look forward to their future?

His schedule is full. It will begin with teaching Minhyuk, cross-checking the finances and profits of this quarter, and then he has a meeting with Jackson, followed by a meeting with Hoseok regarding the former, and to end his day, he has another tutoring session with Minhyuk.

Among all the important things that would happen today, he is looking forward to teaching Minhyuk about his core the most. To share something so sacred with someone, that’s a privilege in any context but it’s especially special for Hyungwon.

Selfishly, he is not looking forward to Minhyuk’s power because they never do any good, even if Kihyun might insist otherwise.

What he is looking forward to is the spark and contentment he’ll feel through their core-bond once Minhyuk’s core starts energy outlet.

But, mostly, - and here’s the catch - he is looking forward to entangling Minhyuk’s godly powers with his own presence so that whenever Minhyuk uses his power, he’ll think of Hyungwon. And, if worst comes to worst, whenever Minhyuk will destruct, the settling ashes will be stained with Hyungwon.

That part Hyungwon can admit easily. Oh, in fact, on some days, he can barely hold back himself from bragging about it. The part that makes him nauseous, the bit that he swallows down with large gulps, and even then it keeps climbing back up his dry throat like disgusting bugs in a horror movie is that most-most-__mostly__ he is looking forward to spending time with Minhyuk. That’s it.

Simple. He wants to spend more time with Minhyuk.

Isn’t it bizarre and downright sickening, if Hyungwon is being honest?

Frankly, __this__ he doesn’t understand. He can understand lust. He can even understand obsession but what he can’t understand is this naive kind of infatuation. The kind where your memories of them are painted in a pink hue, and you look forward to talking to them - not __fucking!__ \- just talking. Just existing alongside them. What kind of sickness is that? Hyungwon checks his temperature everyday but for the life of him, he still can’t catch the fever that has sneakily slithered beneath his skin and comes to life whenever Minhyuk is around him.

And then, there’s the phenomenon of Hyungwon thinking of Minhyuk and actually, physically, feeling himself smile. What’s all that about? What has the world come to?

Maybe it’s the absence of yesterday’s Minhyuk. Maybe it’s the anticipation of today’s Minhyuk. Maybe it’s just Minhyuk, but, today, Hyungwon feels keenly aware of all the messy feelings inside him.

Another futile quest for distraction, he turns around. Letting the water hit his back, he ignores his conscious acknowledgment.

He turns around again and turns off the shower before wrapping a big, white towel around his hips.

Standing in front of the mirror, he brushes back his wet hair, his eyelashes long as his gaze falls on the healing wound over his core. It came to be there after the whole Minhyuk almost dying fiasco. It’s a physical evidence of the pain that he went through. Thinking back to that day, over a week ago, he is almost surprised that there isn’t more, that his whole body isn’t marred with wounds where his every nerve is. He could be made of lightning-like wounds all over him and even then he’ll feel chagrined by the unequal depiction of his pain.

And, he is not just talking about the physical pain.

Hyungwon opens the cabinet and picks up a random lotion. He squeezes out a dollop, the heavy smell of lavender immediately taking him by surprise and he realizes that the help must have replaced the older, almost empty one. He stares at it for a moment, sighing. He has told them repeatedly to stop messing with his room but apparently, Minhyuk isn’t the only brave soldier in this household.

Once the shock of unfamiliarity passes, the fragrance becomes pleasant, almost comfortable. It grounds him in the present, his heart calming down. He rubs it over his legs, stopping at an old scar below his knee to massage circles around it.

Oh, here's another thought that haunts him.

Hyungwon has always felt invincible, almost immortal, to the extent that sometimes he has to resist the urge to test that theory, but failure after failure has made him realize that he is nothing special. He is just a puppet of fate. At 14, he thought his presence would protect Minhyuk, and at 16, he thought his absence would do that. But his promises, his plans, his actions mean nothing if the universe continues to throw Minhyuk around like a raggedy doll.

Minhyuk could die in his arms. He could be dying right now while Hyungwon is rubbing lotion on himself. Nothing is certain. Minhyuk could die and his last impression of Hyungwon would be someone who deliberately chose to hurt him because it was the easy way out. He would die not knowing how powerful he is, how much he has suffered and how strong he is for it, he wouldn’t know how much he is loved and cared for by everyone or maybe he would know that last part and his “everyone” would be everyone except Hyungwon.

And there are so many devastating things here, including the very real danger of Minhyuk catching them in their lies and yet, right now, all Hyungwon can think about is this: Minhyuk could die without knowing that what he feels for Hyungwon is mutual.

Here it is again, the unfamiliar sickening brand of pink-hued infatuation that he just can’t wrap his head around.

Hyungwon puts the lotion back and stares at the mirror one last time while wrapping himself in a robe.

A deep breath. A last self-indulgent beat of a moment for himself before he enters the world where all his thoughts, actions, confessions, and silences will have consequences.

He tilts his head and sees Hyungwon in the mirror imitating him perfectly.

He raises his brows, lips curving in a mocking smirk.

“Good luck.”

***

When he comes out of the bathroom, he is too distracted rubbing his hair dry while thinking of someone that when he spots the said someone lying on his bed, engrossed on his phone, he almost thinks that he might be hallucinating.

But any hallucination that Hyungwon’s brain can conjure will probably have more courtesy than the real Minhyuk who yawns, mouth opening wide enough to eat galaxies, slips a hand under his tee and starts scratching his abdomen, completely comfortable like he is in his own room.

The sad thing is that Hyungwon finds it endearing rather than annoying.

Minhyuk groans and then spreads his legs, taking as much space as he can on the bed.

Alright then, endearing with a mix of annoying.

Minhyuk shifts his hips, revealing a sliver of skin where his shirt rides up. Hyungwon stares at it like a child staring at a toy he knows he will never have. Minhyuk winces and slips his hand further up to scratch around his core.

That jolts Hyungwon out of his daydreams as he hastily closes the connection. That’s another thing that he needs to get used to, keeping the core connection closed.

Hyungwon sighs loudly, hovering over Minhyuk. “How you manage to open my door when I distinctly remember locking it is beyond me.”

Minhyuk’s brows clump in annoyance as if Hyungwon is interrupting him from doing some very important tasks like mindlessly scrolling on his phone and scratching himself raw, which - for the record - he doesn’t stop. Even as he stares at Hyungwon, deliberately keeping his gaze fixed on his face, he continues scratching.

_ _This guy, Hyungwon? Out of all the people?_ _

Minhyuk turns and lifts himself on his elbow, a sweet grin on his even sweeter face adding insult to the injury. "Oh. I had started to think that you had died in there. Got my hopes up and everything!” He picks up his phone, ignoring Hyungwon’s condescending smile. “If you do decide to die, I would appreciate you letting me know beforehand. The least you could do is be polite, you know?"

“I'll keep that in mind.” Hyungwon leans down and shakes his head, the water cascading down from his hair to Minhyuk’s face who scrunches his face and bats at him.

Hyungwon grins and drags Minhyuk up, instinctively gentle. “Now, what are you doing here?"

Minhyuk sits up and opens his eyes, face uncurling from annoyance to barely hidden longing as his gaze drops to Hyungwon’s chest where the robe is slightly open and then quickly darts back to Hyungwon’s face again, eyes hooded.

The urge to arch a brown and smirk is very much there but Hyungwon resists as he affects stillness in every facial muscle to resemble sternness. There’s no point in provocation if he can’t allow himself to give in to what could come after.

Minhyuk’s eyes narrow in anger, clearly compensating for his earlier slip. "Where were you yesterday? I banged on your door for so long like an idiot!"

The whining tone makes Hyungwon’s lips twitch, so he turns away from Minhyuk. A hand in his hair, he opens his wardrobe. "I wasn’t aware that I am to seek your permission before going out. My bad."

“Mmm-hmm. That’s all good and dandy, but I am not about this lack of respect!” Even with his back turned to truly appreciate Minhyuk’s performance, Hyungwon has seen it enough to vividly recreate that little pout that always comes on his face when he whines. “Quick. Ask for my forgiveness.”

Hyungwon opens the oak wardrobe and mutters a defeated, “I am sorry” in harmony with its creak, well-equipped with the fact that he needs to pick his battles when it comes to Minhyuk.

He takes out a loose black collarless shirt and black jeans, unfolding the latter to ascertain if it’s the right one among the deluge of wrong black jeans in his wardrobe.

“Now that you are done with beginning your day by annoying me, let’s talk about your lesson today.”

“Yes, finally!”

Hyungwon spots the label and sighs, folding the jeans to resume hunting for the right one again. “I am glad that you are excited. Now take that excitement outside, to the closed grounds behind the mansion, where you are going for a half-an-hour run today.”

“I am?” Minhyuk sulks.

Hyungwon grins, hands sifting through jeans after jeans.

“Yeah. The first golden rule for every ability-user is: ‘Holistic health is the key to core health.’. So, from today, you will begin your day with some light stretches, followed by a little run and meditation, and end it with yoga - booked a tutor for you who will tattle if you skip, by the way.”

“Yo..ga.”

Hyungwon bites his lip to hold back his laughter. “Yeah. Welcome to your new life.” He finishes with a mock cheery tone which genuinely lifts at the end when he spots the jeans with the right tag.

Something hits the back of his thighs. Hyungwon turns around in surprise, only to find a cushion near his feet.

The bedsheet rustles and gathers at places as Minhyuk drags his legs under him to sit cross-legged, unconcerned with the haphazard state of Hyungwon’s bed because of him.

“I have never seen any of you exercise! Not brother, not Kihyun, not Changkyun, not Jooheon.” Minhyuk wags a finger at Hyungwon accusingly. “And, especially, not you!”

Hyungwon picks up the cushion and flings it at Minhyuk who hits it away.

“Yeah, well, we have been using our powers for a long time. Our bodies have already adapted. Our foundation is strong. We already paid our dues when we were children. If we stretch ourselves to the limit, the worst thing that will happen to us is that we will faint. While you,” he makes a show of looking Minhyuk up and down and shakes his head in disappointment, “will just keel over, if you breathed a little harder.”

Minhyuk’s pout is fierce and somehow vaguely threatening. “Can you be less mean to me? I literally almost died.”

Hyungwon shrugs with a teasing smile. “It’s been over a week. Your grace period has expired, I am afraid.”

“You didn’t tell me that. I didn’t even use it!”

“You should have known. You did almost die.”

Hyungwon walks back towards the bed, easily catching the cushion that Minhyuk throws at him while shouting an emphasized, “I hate you”.

Hyungwon puts down the cushion and drops his clothes on the bed. “We are building you a foundation here, no slacking off. It needs to be strong. Now, go out and run. I need to change.”

Minhyuk’s gaze that had been throwing daggers at him, vaporizes - turns soft. Hyungwon, well-versed in the ever-expanding dictionary of Minhyuk's antics, immediately knows that he is faking.

If he is a little affected by it nonetheless, that’s okay, he is only human. He is also affected in the same way by puppies and kittens. No big deal.

Fortunately, that’s the extent of Minhyuk’s power on hi-

"Hyungwon."

_ _Huh?_ _

The name, again, spoken so casually and without any fanfare, evokes the same confusing feelings in Hyungwon. The difference this time is the dialed-up intensity.

In the end, all he can get out of that messy desire is one word:

"Excuse me?"

Minhyuk’s lips twitch, struggling to hold onto his soft-innocent boy facade. "What?"

"Why are you saying my name...like that?"

Brown eyes look up and blink at him innocently. "Like what? Isn't that how your name is pronounced? Hyung-won?

Hyungwon's face creases in clear confusion. "But you- what? What is happening right now? Am I dreaming or something?"

Minhyuk is grinning now, wide and shameless.

He mischievously tugs at Hyungwon’s sleeves, voice deliberately low and wispy. "You dream about me? What do we do in those dreams, Hyungwon? Do I say your name in them? Is that why you are asking this?"

If Hyungwon hadn’t been so confused and taken by complete surprise by not one but many utterances of his name, sounds stretched one time and the other one lilting, he would have tried to control his expressions better because right now as Minhyuk’s grin widens even more, eyes sparkly and knowing, Hyungwon realizes that he is giving away too much.

Trying to get some semblance of control back, he squares his shoulders, face blank. "Yeah, usually, you are dying in them, crying out my name to save you. ‘Oh Hyungwon, my savior, save me, save me. I am an idiot.’ That’s what you say. And, I do. I do save you like I actually did. You remember that?” He flicks Minhyuk’s cheek. “Because I did. I saved you from dying, you brat."

Minhyuk jerks away, wincing and rubbing his cheek. "Well, if you are going to be bragging about it, you might as well have let me die.” He finishes the sentence and then adds a hasty, “Hyungwon".

The ridiculousness of it makes Hyungwon relax. "I'll remember that the next time.” He rolls his eyes and swats Minhyuk’s hand away when he continues wincing and rubbing his cheek. He replaces it with his own fingers, rubbing it gently, afraid that he flicked too hard. Seeing Minhyuk’s eyes flutter close, he lightly hits his cheek before drawing back. “Now, what's up with you using my name like that?"

Minhyuk gets up on his knees. He is face to face with Hyungwon, arms crossed, a cocky smirk on his face. "What? I am just using your name."

Hyungwon lifts his hand to flick him again. In retaliation, Minhyuk brings his hands up in an extremely poor boxing stance.

Hyungwon can’t help his amused smile at that. "Yeah, why is that?"

Minhyuk shrugs, fists reaching for Hyungwon’s shoulder but Hyungwon catches it, doing the same with Minhyuk’s other hand.

“You just woke up and decided to drop the term that you have used your whole life?”

Minhyuk tries to pull back his hands but Hyungwon maintains his tight hold on his wrist.

"I have decided to have a new start."

"And that new start is abusing my name like this worn-out shirt of yours that you have been wearing for eight days now?" Hyungwon notes.

Minhyuk snorts. "No, it's breaking my bad habits. One of them is calling you 'sir'. Like, why do I have to call you with a respectful title when you are not really respect-worthy at all? In fact, I should start calling you ‘servant’ or something."

Hyungwon presses Minhyuk’s one arm behind his back. "Again, would like to remind you that I saved your life."

The twinkle in Minhyuk's eyes expands and bursts. Instead of struggling against his hold, he dawdles on his knees, leaning closer to Hyungwon. Absent-mindedly, Hyungwon notices the scent. It’s not the perfume that Hyungwon gifted him. It’s something else; dark and rich. Almond and chocolate.

"Impotent virgin."

Hyungwon groans, releasing Minhyuk’s hands. "Oh my god! I am sorry about that, okay?"

That’s another thing that Minhyuk has been torturing him with; saying the words “impotent virgin” whenever Hyungwon calls him out on being attached to him like a leech, or really saying or doing anything that Minhyuk deems unacceptable in a bid to shut Hyungwon up because it does actually do that. It shuts Hyungwon up.

Never in his life did Hyungwon think that someone would pick the words he said to hurt them as a fun little game to toy with him instead.

Minhyuk taps Hyungwon’s nose with his index finger. "Apology not accepted." A grin. "Hyungwon."

They are so close that Minhyuk’s wide smile feels intimate as if it’s only for him. Everyone else will get another version of it. But, this? This one with its affection, brightness, and flirty mischievousness feels reserved for Hyungwon only. The thought invokes a feeling of smitten captivation which washes over him completely, warms his face, tugs at him to slowly close the distance between their lips, and confirm that this smile stays reserved for him and him only.

Before he can do something about the proximity because this simply won’t do, Minhyuk steps back. "When do we start the practice then?"

Exhaling loudly out of his nose, Hyungwon shakes his head, senses still caught in Minhyuk’s scent and sparkle. "Um-"

"Um?" Minhyuk repeats in a mocking tone.

And that does it. That dispels the spell wonderfully.

"We are starting now. Go run for half-an-hour. To utilize your core, you need a healthy body and stamina." He waves his hand. "Get to it."

Minhyuk taps his nose again. “Boop." A pat on his cheek next. "Okay, whatever my hot nemesis says.”

Hyungwon shakes his head. He waves a hand towards the door, turning away from the bed and Minhyuk, indicating the end of this conversation. "Yeah. Yeah. Put that hate into your run and then meet me for your first lesson."

"You better be ready when I come back."

Hyungwon unties the sash of his robe. “Sure.” He should be getting ready too. He has a long day ahead.

Suddenly, a hot breath touches Hyungwon's ears. "See you later then, Hyung-won."

Hyungwon pauses__. __

_ _What the fuck?_ _

“Uh- See you.”

***

The breakfast is a quiet affair with Hyungwon eating alone while waiting for Minhyuk to come and pretend that he actually ran for half-an-hour.

The yawning silence around him, an anticipated welcome change after his restless morning, bugs Hyungwon. Gives him too much quiet for thoughts that should be put in the dustiest corner of his mind with the age-old applied logic of ‘If I don’t think about it, then it actually doesn’t exist’.

Mindlessly biting into his toast, Hyungwon thinks about how easily he has gotten used to sharing his breakfast with Hoseok while the whole house around them devolves into hustle and bustle of the members coming in and greeting them in passing. Juniors awkward and seniors rigid.

He chews languidly, savoring the buttery taste on his tongue, passively absorbing the information that six years of work: the solitary days spent in a strange land with even stranger people, so easily went down the drain in two months.

Every time Hoseok or Kihyun called him and asked him if he missed being here, he unhesitantly said no, because he didn’t. He enjoyed the freedom that came with living alone.

He liked feeling sufficient, liked being able to slouch and not make his steps strong and authoritative or his breaths effortless even when he was physically exhausted. He was always running harder than everyone else to compensate for his age and inexperience in a bid to appease everyone and their dog of his competency as the next heir.

It felt great to get rid of his father’s apathetic eyes, taking in every perceived fumble of his and involving him in mind games to weed out every unnecessary emotion and inject cold objectivity in him.

So, no, even if he did miss Hoseok and Kihyun deeply, and never really felt at home there, he didn’t miss being here at all.

But, now, things are different.

Hyungwon picks up the jug of orange juice and refills his glass. A junior passes him by and bows in greeting, heading to the meeting that Hoseok is leading. Hyungwon nods in acknowledgment, eyes stern, because the junior is running late and that wouldn’t do. The junior flushes red and scurries towards the second hall.

His father isn’t the man of the house right now, he is.

And, there’s something so addicting about that. About wielding this kind of power over people. The eyes that rake over him now, aren’t cutting but reverent, even envious. Now, seniors move on their tiptoes around him rather than the other way around. If he decided to take a few days off without any notice, even with Hoseok’s intervention, the whole organization would start unraveling at the seams.

There’s something so heady about that knowledge.

He is aware that these are the things that lead to unhinged kings, the fiddling while Rome burns kind; the kind who only feel emotions for their status like his father.

When Hyungwon was younger, his features were babyish; people told him that he looked like his mother. Now when he looks at the older pictures of his father, he finds their resemblance uncanny. Hyungwon’s father has the same height as him, the same face shape, the same silent confidence.

There’s a cosmic joke in that. A prophecy of a kind.

He should be wary, especially when he knows how easily he gets tempted and addicted to power. And he is. He __is__. That’s why he stayed away from this all.

But, how can he resist it when it finally feels like he is wearing the right skin?

How can he resist this power and position when he is finally getting to play the role that he was raised to, finally getting to use the skills that he acquired through years of hard work when he was young.

It’s the kind of enveloping feeling that wearing a luxury, custom-made suit, tailored to perfection to compliment every inch of you evokes. It’s that except a billion times more magnified. It’s incomparable, really.

It’s not that he didn’t like the clothes before, he was content, but this? This is unbeatable. All this mess around him should make him want to get away and yet...

He has never felt more alive, more in his element than he has in these two months. He could get used to this feeling.

Used to?

_ _What innocuous phrasing._ _

Oh, he could get addicted to this feeling if he hasn’t already.

It should be a thrilling realization because isn’t this everyone’s looking for? Finding your role in the world, and above all that feeling of being at home?

But it isn’t.

Hyungwon takes a last sip, brushes his hands off, and looks in the direction of where the junior went.

This isn’t his world or his position. He is just here on borrowed time. The one who owns it, who deserves it, who has worked on this more than Hyungwon ever will is sitting in the second hall, leading a meeting.

Unlike Hyungwon, Hoseok wasn’t obligated or encouraged to work hard like Hyungwon was, and yet he did. He did that despite the jeering, the insults, the humiliation he had to suffer from the people around him or just plain apathy - the kind that makes your heart shrivel and curl inwards - from his father.

While Hyungwon scoffed at the books that his father forced him to read, Hoseok borrowed those books from him and then wrote questions on paper chits for Hyungwon to ask his tutor. He worked as the help and it took him years, and repeated shows of his worth to earn the position of a junior. It took him completely giving up his control and letting his father use him as a tool to even be acknowledged. That’s the kind of sacrifice Hyungwon can’t even begin to comprehend.

In that way, his father already had an Ares.

Hoseok went through all these troubles, pains, dehumanization; and for what?

Hyungwon still doesn’t know. But, what he does know with absolute certainty is that if there’s someone in his house who was born for this, whose every contour fits this role perfectly, it’s Hoseok.

Hyungwon gets up from the table, dishes in hand, and moves towards the kitchen, one last lingering glance towards the second hall, and then towards the main door to see if Minhyuk is near.

Hoseok worked himself to the bone to earn what Hyungwon discarded eight years ago. He knows the family and the business inside out. Even after two months, Hyungwon has to go up to Hoseok to fill certain gaps when it comes to work. Hyungwon has lost his chance and he should be content with the momentary “man of the house” role that Hoseok has carved out for him.

Sure, Hoseok has given him a lot of responsibilities, either to make his role look genuine to the others or maybe because he knows that Hyungwon needs work, structure to maintain his sanity. Because, by now, he knows that needing Hyungwon’s help for business is a load of horseshit. Hoseok is more than capable of handling it alone.

For Hoseok, Hyungwon is a face to appease the conservatives while he can freely work behind the scenes without heat from everywhere, taking shelter in his perceived powerlessness.

As for Minhyuk, there’s a niggling thought at the back of Hyungwon’s mind that Hoseok knows something that Hyungwon doesn’t. Something that has made Hoseok take a backseat and leave Hyungwon in charge.

Whatever that is, for now, he needs to remember he is playing a role with a time limit. It would benefit no one if he grew __too__ comfortable in it.

The organization will come to Hoseok’s vision, they will catch their mystery culprit, Minhyuk will get better, and that’s it. Hyungwon’s time here will come to an end. And, he’ll go back to feeling like a stranger in a strange land again-

The dishes clatter loudly as he drops them in the sink.

-and he’ll do well to always remember that.

***

Hyungwon rolls his sleeve up and then adjusts his glasses. “Alright. So, this is the meditation room or I don’t know what Hoseok calls it but we use it to meditate and practice.”

Minhyuk looks around, head turning in all directions. “Oh, wow. I had no idea of its existence.” He spread his arms and spins in a circle. “It’s so...empty and white. Need some tips for decor? Or are you just poor?”

Hyungwon clicks his tongue. “Look above.”

Minhyuk looks up and abruptly stops spinning. “What’s that?”

Embedded into the ceiling, in the center of the room, is a pure black stone. Its texture is smooth, even shiny; the color darker than the new moon sky. It’s a rare stone, hard to come by. Its size is small; the fist of an infant, and yet it’s the costliest thing in their mansion. It used to be his father’s pride.

Mesmerized, Minhyuk’s eyes slowly rake over it. “It’s beautiful.” In the next moment, he clutches his chest and doubles up in pain, eyes still fixed on the stone as if frozen.

Standing behind him, expecting this turn of events, Hyungwon puts a hand on Minhyuk’s eyes, carefully covering them. He puts the other hand on Minhyuk’s core and softy starts rubbing there. “That’s a Vedic stone.”

“Yeah? And it’s used by masochists?”

Hyungwon removes his hands, half-laughing. “No. When you are pushing out core energy, it concentrates it. Usually when someone is still learning, the energy, instead of concentrating at one point - your target - diverges. It bleeds away from the threads which weakens the impact. A Vedic stone concentrates that energy for you.”

Minhyuk straightens up, face a picture of mild discomfort as he swallows. “Oh. But-”

“But you can’t directly look into it, it would give you a core-ache.”

Minhyuk turns around, expression furious. “Maybe begin with that.” Bending, he thumps his chest, coughing. “It’s like my whole body is going through a hangover.”

Hyungwon shrugs. “It’s better this way. If you look at it while using powers, it would be like,” Hyungwon tilts his head, “being the patty in a bed of nails sandwich while that sandwich gets crushed by an elephant.”

Minhyuk scrunches his nose. “That’s an image.” He plops down on the floor, legs crossed, hands massaging his chest. “One last question before we start.”

Hyungwon follows suit. His descent, a little more graceful. He gets into the right posture with his legs under him, hands over his knees. “Hmm?”

“What are threads?”

***

“So, to sum it up, think of threads as strings made of atoms.” Hyungwon spreads his hands wide. “The atoms connecting my right index finger with the left index finger from the outside, those are threads. The cells connecting them from the inside, those are threads too. It’s inside and outside you.” He draws two points on the whiteboard, and slashes a line between them, connecting them both. “This,” He taps on the line aggressively with his marker, “is a thread.”

When Hyungwon last taught Minhyuk, he was 12. Now he is 21, and yet the furrow of his brows, the eager wide eyes, the subconscious pout on his face is exactly the same. The difference would be how animated this Minhyuk is while the younger Minhyuk was always veiled behind stoicism. It wasn’t built into him to emote this freely. He always hid behind an invisible wall of nothingness that he never took down for anyone, except in some moments of extreme weakness.

So, no, it’s not the same.

Minhyuk bites at his lips before pouting again.

Standing two long strides away from him, Hyungwon’s gaze catches on the redness of his mouth.

No, it’s definitely not the same.

“Is it something physical like an atom? Like, can I see it with a microscope?” Minhyuk says, looking small while sitting on the floor with a notebook in his hands.

Hyungwon sighs. “That’s the first thing that I told you. Stop zoning out. It’s not physical. It exists but it doesn’t manifest itself physically until you use your power, and even then you can’t see it. It’s not an object, it’s a phenomenon.”

Minhyuk’s pout intensifies. “I don’t get it.”

Hyungwon pinches his nose.

“Do you understand what I mean when I say it's a ‘phenomenon’ and not an ‘object’?”

“Nope,” Minhyuk says while popping the ‘P’, clearly enjoying Hyungwon’s suffering.

“Okay. So, here’s what a thread is in its simplest form: it’s a path that our core energy follows or can potentially follow when traveling to its target. It’s as simple as that.”

Minhyuk goes back to scratching on his notebook mumbling a sulky “I guess”.

“Great. Now, the next thing is that it’s everywhere and it’s never one way. It’s a web, to put it concisely. When you use your core what you are doing is transporting the energy or power that it creates through threads. So, let’s say the energy is blood, then your core is the heart and the threads are the arteries. That’s the general working for everyone.” Hyungwon raises a finger when Minhyuk opens his mouth to interrupt. “For the love of everything holy, let me speak, brat. We have been at it for hours now.”

Minhyuk grins, shoulders hitched to his ear. Impish minx. “Proceed, teacher.”

“The difference is that the Regressives’ core produces energy too low to manifest as a power while for the Dominants, the energy it creates varies according to what you are born with and how much you practice. On a scale from 0 to 10, the maximum core level officially noted is 8 which is very rare and is very tough to sustain and maintain. So, someone with a 6 or 7 can spike to 8 for a moment and come back down to their normal level the next. No case of a stable 8 has been noted. The next stable highest is 7 which is again rare but possible and recorded.

The average for Regressives is anything between 0.1 and 0.5. The average for Dominants in combative professions is 4. With a normal lifestyle, it’s 2. Although, remember that numbers don't mean much. My father had a core value of 5, and he could bend a 7 to his will any given day.”

Well, except me, Hyungwon thinks smugly.

Minhyuk, who had been slowly slumping in boredom, perks up at this. “That old man? Wow. I always wondered why he was the head. He looked so cute and fancy with his vintage suits, hats and canes. When I first saw his picture, I thought he was a time traveler!”

Hyungwon bites the inside of his cheeks.

He never really wondered how his father looked to strangers. For him, any version of his father that didn’t command the room, didn’t chill everyone he interacted with to their core was unfathomable. And now to hear words like “cute” and “fancy” in regards to him; oh, how he must be rolling in his grave.

“Sure, so-”

“What’s your core value?

“7,” Hyungwon says, with an affected placid expression. It’s not like when he first reached it, he shouted it from a terrace.

“Uh-huh. What’s brother’s and Kihyun’s core value?”

“Asking someone’s core value is like asking someone’s salary; you can do it, but it’s not good manners.”

Minhyuk gives him a blank look, tapping the pencil on his knees impatiently.

Hyungwon shakes his head. “Hoseok’s is 6.5, Kihyun is 5. When they use their core bond to increase their power, it momentarily leaps to 7.5 and 6 respectively.”

Minhyuk’s eyes widen in surprise. “7.5? Wow! He is so cool.”

Hyungwon folds his hands. “I am a stable 7. If I push, I can maintain an 8 for a minute.”

“But, that’s just a minute,” Minhyuk says, shrugging dismissively.

“His is less than a minute,” Hyungwon grits out, chagrined.

Minhyuk gives him a soothing grin. “Of course. We are all special and children of God. There. There. No need to cry.”

Hyungwon takes a deep breath. He is better than this. He will not stoop down to a child’s level just because of an obnoxious brat.

“Whatever. So, the kind of power you have plays a great role-”

Minhyuk yawns.

Hyungwon stops talking. “Oh, I am sorry. Am I boring you?”

No tact to be spotted anywhere, Minhyuk nods enthusiastically in response.

Hyungwon sighs. “That was rhetorical.”

Minhyuk gets up and stamps his foot. “This is so boring! I thought we would be doing stuff! Like, you know, practical stuff!”

“I thought so too. That’s why I brought you here.” He pats Minhyuk’s shoulder in mock sympathy. “But, we can’t because you don’t know shit about shit.”

Minhyuk gives him a middle finger. “Fuck you! I know a lot of stuff. Just nothing about core stuff.”

“How do you live with some of the most powerful Dominants, and not even know about threads of all things?”

“I was homeschooled. You should ask brother that question,” Minhyuk says, pouting in indignation.

Hyungwon pauses.

Oh, of course, Hoseok wouldn’t want to know Minhyuk about this stuff.

And there it is again, the realization that as they go on, as Minhyuk learns about cores and powers, he’ll know more about himself. His apathy towards all of this will be overtaken by curiosity, and all that will stand before him and truth is sheer luck and trust.

Eager to change the subject, Hyungwon closes the distance between them. “Let’s see your notes.”

Startled, Minhyuk shuts his notebook with a quick snap.

Lifting a brow, Hyungwon snatches it. “Subtle, kid.”

He opens it on a random page, eyes catching on a figure when Minhyuk tries to grab it.

“Did you know one of my abilities is to render people unconscious?” Hyungwon warns.

“Perv,” mutters Minhyuk, but stands back.

Opening it again, he flips through it and halts on rough sketches of him - standing and gesturing, like he had been for hours now.

The sketches are rough; made by broken and overlapping thin lines, but the defining features are clearly there in his long and dark hair, thick lips, broad shoulders, and long legs.

Even with the hasty roughness, indicating the casual nature of the drawings, the sketches itself speak of someone who has taken the time to acutely observe him; someone who has saved his image in their memories and went over them so many times that drawing him so distinctly, even capturing his action in a still image, while drawing absent-mindedly, has become second nature to them.

And, one way or other, how can that not affect Hyungwon?

He looks up and finds Minhyuk staring at him, the gaze knowing. Challenging.

Hyungwon looks down on the notebook and swallows. “I think we both are tired. Let’s pick it up in the evening.”

He drops the notebook on the floor and leaves without waiting for a response.

***

The burn down Hyungwon’s throat is less because of the scotch, and more because of Jackson’s amused eyes on him. It’s analyzing. It’s hungry for his secrets, and Jackson doesn’t even bother to hide it. For someone with secrets like Hyungwon, Jackson is his worst nightmare.

Instead of looking away, Hyungwon locks eyes with him. Jackson’s features mobilize into a wide smile, perfect straight white teeth on display, looking harmless and happy like a child with a balloon. If Hyungwon didn’t know his background, even someone as astute as him would have bought this practiced facade easily.

Hyungwon puts the glass down on the table silently and softly smiles back.

These types of mind games were invented by his father.

“So, are you adjusting well in your new role?” Hyungwon asks, his voice soft, easily becoming one with the silence of the empty casino.

On the table behind him, he hears Hyunwoo clinking his glass with the man Jackson brought.

Jackson’s smile softens at the edges as he exhales a heavy sigh, head hanging for a moment before he puts it on the table on his folded arms.

“It’s mostly a chore but it has its moments,” Jackson says, wide eyes looking up at Hyungwon like an unlikely confidant.

Nope, still not buying it.

“Yeah?” He says, picking up his glass for another sip.

“Yeah. I am sure you can relate.”

“I am afraid I can’t.” Hyungwon smiles.

“You are liking it here then?” Jackson says, lifting his head. He looks behind Hyungwon and gestures at all the empty plates on the table.

“Yeah, it feels like I have finally found my calling.”

The man who came with Jackson - his features soft and stoic - arrives at the table, and starts collecting the plates.

“Anything else?” the man asks, his voice as soft as Hyungwon’s was.

“No, that would be all, Jinyoung.” Jackson looks at Hyungwon in question. “Unless- Hyungwon?”

“No, thank you,” Hyungwon says, directing a polite smile at Jinyoung.

Jinyoung nods his head at Jackson, ignoring Hyungwon completely. With a bow, he takes his leave.

“Interesting choice of words there. ‘Found your calling’. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you stumbled into this position by sheer luck rather than being born into it,” Jackson continues.

Hyungwon leans forward and takes out the flower from the vase placed on the center of the table. The whole evening while eating too greasy food, and answering Jackson’s questions with questions of his own, playing cat and cat, his gaze kept coming back to the vase as a neutral point to reset.

That’s a thing that he taught himself. Find a stationary point or object in the room and make it your reset point. There would be times when he might get too worked up or lulled into comfort or get distracted - like Hyungwon is today - it’s at those times when he needs to come to that point and tell himself: Reset. Focus.

That’s all one needs most of the time, a timely pause to reassess.

He places the flower in front of his nose and takes a sniff. It smells like all the flowers do, sugary sweet.

Where does Hyungwon want to lead Jackson?

“I was born into it but, well, you must know the story,” Hyungwon says, eyes lifting to read Jackson’s face.

“Yeah, I do, but I prefer to hear things about my friends from their own mouths.”

Hyungwon grins and crushes one petal between his index finger and thumb. Jackson’s eyes dart from his face to his hands and then back again.

“I don’t usually like dragging my skeletons out of the closet to put on a show for the enjoyment of others. But if it’s for a __friend__,” he lifts his brows mischievously, “then, of course.”

Jackson picks up his glass and nods at him, eyes wrinkling in a friendly smile.

“When I was 16, I fucked up. It was the great gang war against __Amethyst__ and __Opal__. I went there high off my ass. I was going through my rebellious phase, took an overdose of some ability-enhancing liquid. I don’t remember anything that happened after that. Later, I was told that I pretty much started killing my own men. Long story short, my father was disgusted. Said he couldn’t trust me and sent me away.”

Jackson gives a long blink, his index finger tracing the lid of the empty glass now. “That’s the official version, yes.”

Hyungwon leans back in his chair. “And, you doubt it?”

Jackson shrugs. “I have heard things about your father from my own. They were close. So, there are things that I have heard that no one else has.” He leans forward, a knowing glint in his eyes. “Sending you away seems too kind for him.”

Hyungwon throws his head back and laughs, the sound bitter and deep. “ ‘Kind’? He took everything that I worked for away from me the first time I fucked up. That seems ‘kind’ to you?”

Jackson stares at Hyungwon, his eyes digging deep into Hyungwon’s as if he can see his lies in the changing shape of his irises. Feeling childish, Hyungwon says, “Fuck you, can you read this in my eyes?” inside his head and keeps his face blank and eyes apathetic.

“So, is that the truth then? Because if you say so, I’ll believe it.”

Hyungwon stares at the vase from the corner of his eyes.

Here goes nothing then.

Hyungwon leans ahead, eyes conspiratorial, one corner of his lips lifted in a sardonic smile. “That’s pretty much the actual story, except the part where I was high. I wasn’t.”

Hyungwon knows the exact moment the meaning of his words clicks in Jackson’s brain. The widening white of his eyes gives away his clear shock.

“You knowingly killed your own men?” Jackson exclaims.

Hyungwon shrugs. “I was going through a phase.”

When they were kids, some nights Kihyun would dial Hyungwon at the request of an anxious Minhyuk to talk him to sleep. Sometimes, Hyungwon would give a children-friendly run down of his day but most of the time, he told Minhyuk stories. Stories in which Hyungwon would adjust his pitch to voice different characters to make Minhyuk laugh.

One of the things that never failed to make Minhyuk giggle was when Hyungwon imitated a Hyena’s laugh. It was the reason that even when Hyunwon told stories of gods, the stories would have a Hyena as a fixed side-character for some reason.

He was pretty proud of that impression.

But right now, as Hyungwon witnesses the sharp staccato sound coming out of Jackson’s mouth as an amused Jackson throws his head back in genuine laughter, features pulled back and wrinkled, he thinks he was nowhere close.

Even though he is aware of the context, the sound is infectious, so he looks into Jackson’s eyes and gives his own genuine grin.

Jackson shakes his head, laugh petering out and settling at the corner of his lips. “You are an interesting person.”

Hyungwon bows his head theatrically. “I hope this moment of absolute truth told to a friend in confidence will further strengthen our alliance.”

Jackson's eyes crinkle further. He nods. “Of course. If you don’t mind me asking, how did your father let you live even if he bought your lie?”

Hyungwon leans back in his chair, comfortably lounging. “He knew the truth. It didn’t matter though. In the end, he had no other option.”

“He didn’t?”

“He knew if push came to shove, I could easily kill him too.”

All amusement leaves Jackson’s face and gets caught in Hyungwon’s small smile. Hanging in the air, the impact of such heavy words dropped so casually leaves everything frozen solid until Hyungwon is left wondering if he will need a hammer to make the time move again.

Hyungwon expects Jackson to realize his slip, quickly don his habitual cloak of perpetual amusement again, and continue toying with him.

Because that’s what’s happening. Jackson, with his invites and constant smiles, is toying with him. Until now, Hyungwon wasn’t sure if there was an intent to that or if he was being played with for plain amusement. Whatever the case might be before, now he knows that his words have upped the game.

Hyungwon has given him a glimpse of the madman under his starched-shirt facade, and a hedonist businessman like Jackson can’t refuse that.

Every powerful person is like Hyungwon’s father in a way - not one of them can resist turning in the key to a powerful toy and see it move, no matter the risk.

With the seriousness of a man an inch away from pressing the ‘detonate’ button to end the world, Jackson takes out a cigarette and extends it towards Hyungwon. “I have a proposition for you.”

Hyungwon puts it between his fingers, nodding at Jackson to light it. “Go ahead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also have other finished hyunghyuk fics here and a text au on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/crankyminwon/status/1328391380410851329?s=20), so feel free to check 'em out. I'll see you in Part 2. 
> 
> Twitter: [@crankyminwon](https://twitter.com/crankyminwon)  
Curious Cat(if you wanna stay ~anonymous~): [MellowMinhyuk](https://curiouscat.me/MellowMinhyuk)
> 
> *
> 
> Firstly, I would like to thank Hao, the ABSOLUTE ALPHA, for stooping down and being an ABSOLUTE BETA (reader) for this. He did it in one night. What a legend. He has a very, very, very beautiful hyunghyuk fic here that's going to sing in your ears and paint behind your eyelids, genuinely. It's about a sun god Minhyuk, and it has trains, curly haired Won and first kisses. I am linking it here, please check it out: [The Flying Train To Shangri-La](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20764526)
> 
> Secondly, I would like to thank the people in my CC, DMs or comments here, who wake me up from my slumber and slumps with their encouraging words, remarks, questions and observations. Thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I started another AU before finishing my earlier one like a complete idiot. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! 
> 
> Throw me some love or hate in the comments or Twitter/Curious Cat - @mellow_minhyuk 
> 
> Also, please let me know if you spot any typos or grammatical errors.


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